DelVal receives a $63,500 grant for scholarships

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W.W. Smith Scholars talk with a representative from the Trust.

Credit: Delaware Valley University. Louise A. Havens (center), a grant administrator from The W.W. Smith Charitable Trust, talks with Joan Hock, Delaware Valley University's director of financial aid, and  W.W. Smith Scholars at a lunch on campus Oct.26. 

The W.W. Smith Charitable Trust awarded Delaware Valley University a $63,500 grant for student scholarships for the 2016-2017 academic  year. The University awards the scholarships – ranging from $2,000 to $7,000– to full-time undergraduate students in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher and  demonstrated financial need. Recipients must also be permanent Pennsylvania residents from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery or Philadelphia counties. The W.W. Smith  Charitable Trust has supported DelVal since 1979.

“This scholarship was the difference between dropping out and finishing my degree,” said Nyia McEntyre ’17, a business administration major. “I’m very appreciative and it makes me  want to start my own scholarship to help students.”

Every other year, DelVal invites representatives from the Trust to a lunch with the scholars to learn directly from them about their challenges and aspirations.

“Delaware Valley University would like thank the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust for all it has done to help our students and DelVal,” said University President Dr. Maria Gallo. “And thanks  also, to our students, who have overcome many obstacles to secure their education, and who represent hope, optimism and a better future.”

Based in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, The W. W. Smith Charitable Trust is a private foundation established through the will of William Wikoff Smith. The Trust is specifically  focused on areas involving basic needs for food, clothing and shelter; supplementing higher education scholarship programs; and basic medical research primarily in heart disease,  cancer and AIDS.

From July 2015 through June 2016 the W. W. Smith Charitable Trust provided more than $6.5 million in new funding. The funding went to: 67 nonprofit community organizations, 39  colleges and universities, 18 basic medical research grants, one special medical research grant, three maritime grants and one special grant.