AUP Annual Fund

Dear AUP Supporter,

In the fall of 1962, when AUP’s founder, Dr. Lloyd DeLamater (pictured center), lifted a glass at The American College in Paris’ first Orientation, he toasted “to the inaugural class and symbolically to all classes to come.” Next fall, when the incoming 50th class assembles for Convocation in the nave of The American Church in Paris, ACP/AUP’s original home, it will be to honor Dr. and Madame DeLamater’s spirit, vision, and commitment to what has become The American University of Paris.
 

I still remember Dr. DeLamater’s amazing vitality and how his energy infused all of us at the University. His presence was palpable in that Church basement and I sometimes think he literally willed the school into being! I am forever in his debt and in continuing awe of how AUP is steeped in the spirit of ACP, enabling the University to remain at the forefront of international higher education. So it is fitting that the aim of this year’s Annual Fund is to pay tribute to his and Marie's names.
 

With your help, we are launching the Dr. Lloyd DeLamater and Marie DeLamater Presidential Scholars Program. Two students of AUP’s incoming 50th class will receive full tuition scholarships for their undergraduate studies along with support for their living expenses. Contributions to the 2011-2012 AUP Annual Fund will support these two scholars directly. The Dr. Lloyd and Marie DeLamater Presidential Scholars will be chosen via application, and on the basis of academic promise, leadership potential, and financial need, from among those entering undergraduate students who have chosen to study in one of the liberal arts fields at AUP.
 

Our goal is ambitious: to provide the first fully funded AUP experience to our students. To achieve this milestone is also to strengthen AUP’s socio-economic diversity even as we celebrate our linguistic, cultural, ethnic and religious diversity.
 

To do so, we must raise €104,000 to enable full support for these two scholars throughout their four-year course of study. Should we exceed our goal, the remainder of the Annual Fund donations designated for these scholarships will support institutional financial aid, which currently represents 15% of AUP's annual operating budget and helps 40% of AUP’s student body afford an AUP education.
 

I ask you—as alumni and friends of the University—to help lead the way in supporting future students of The American University of Paris, so that they too can have the privilege of learning from inspiring professors, experiencing the wonders of Paris and receiving a Global Liberal Arts education at AUP. Please join me in celebrating the founding vision of AUP incarnate in the Dr. Lloyd and Marie DeLamater Scholars Program with a gift to this year’s Annual Fund. Much as the DeLamaters’ realized vision has changed the world for the better, so too can your contribution open the doors of the world in Paris to these deserving scholars. Undoubtedly, their lives will change, as did mine, as a result of the experience.
 

Sincerely,