The Greenbelt News Review has extended the time it will match all donations, up to a total of $5,000, made to the University of Maryland’s Virginia W. Beauchamp Scholarship, with no deadline.
This scholarship is named in honor of University of Maryland Professor Virginia Beauchamp, who founded the university’s Department of Women’s Studies in 1975. She was also a leading member of the Greenbelt News Review for more than 60 years and an advocate for the Greenbelt community.
Mary Lou Williamson, a longtime staff member of the News Review and friend of Beauchamp, said that there were no objections to this extension, as the News Review’s board recognized the poor timing of the donation effort during a public health crisis in which many are worried about money. As of April 10, the donation total was $3,065, according to Norah Quinn McCormick, assistant director of development for the university’s College of Arts and Humanities.
At the beginning of March, nearly $15,000 of the $25,000 endowment goal had been raised.
Currently, with the News Review’s matched donations, a total of approximately $21,130 has been raised. That amount is approximate due to a possible lag in processing donations, according to Quinn McCormick.
“Campus mail continues to be incredibly slow,” Quinn McCormick said. “So, I am hopeful there are still gifts out there that have yet to be processed.”
The Beauchamp Scholarship has provided annual need-based awards of $750 since its conception in 2016 for graduate students in the Department of Women’s Studies. Once endowed, the scholarship has the potential to grow to $1,000 a year and will live in perpetuity to support generations of students, according to Quinn McCormick. The fund must reach $25,000 by June 30, 2021, in order to become an endowed scholarship.
The News Review thanks those who have donated and encourages other members of the community to honor their fellow Greenbelter with any gift they can offer. The paper will keep readers updated on the scholarship’s growth.
For more information on Virginia Beauchamp’s life and the impact of her scholarship for students in the Department of Women’s Studies, refer to the March 2020 issues of the News Review. To donate, go to giving.umd.edu/giving/fund.php?name=virginia-wbeauchamp-scholarship or contact Quinn McCormick at 301-405- 6485 or naquinn@umd.edu.