Donne and Sue Fisher, DU donors and namesakes of the Fisher Center for Early Learning, made a $5 million gift to the university in support of graduate and early childhood education last fall. The Fisher Center, located on Evans Avenue, offers age-based curriculum for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
“This gift is incredibly meaningful both for the university as a whole and for Morgridge College of Education because of the Fishers’ vision for the field of early childhood education,” said Vice Chancellor of University Advancement Scott Lumpkin. “By endowing scholarships both for graduate students and for preschool students, they are broadening our community’s base of excellent early childhood educators and increasing access for preschoolers.”
The donation will establish two scholarship funds: the Donne and Sue Fisher Endowed Graduate Scholarship Fund, which will financially support graduate students pursuing a master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education (or with a focus on early childhood); graduate students will start receiving money at the beginning of the next academic school year. The second fund, the Donne and Sue Fisher Endowed Preschool Scholarship Fund, will help preschool students with financial need attend the Fisher Early Learning Center.
According to Karen Riley, interim dean of Morgridge College of Education, the college is targeting eight graduate students for the fall and is looking to enroll four preschoolers immediately. Riley said she is not sure of how much all respective students will receive, but said $2.25 million of the $5 million will create scholarships for graduate students studying early childhood education. DU will match the $2.25 million.
“Since [the match is] a bequeathment, we’re actually able to use and access the matching funds immediately,” said Riley. “The impact of the gift in its entirety really makes a difference in early childhood in our community in a broad sense, so it prepares people at a very high level to deal with to deal with and to make improvements in the lives of very young children and families with special needs.”
The remaining $2.75 million will help at-risk, low-income children attend the Fisher Early Learning Center.
“We believe in early intervention, we really believe in early childhood and we believe that that’s where we can make the most impact for remediating any academic issues,” said Riley. “From the university’s standpoint of a private college for the public good, serving our community and providing access to one of the best early childhood programs in the state, is what this gift allows us to do.”
Like the graduate student fund, the $2.75 million is available to start using immediately.
“[The Fishers] have already started: they gave us another $11,000 check in December to fund four kids from January to June and then they’re also giving up to $10,000 a month to start those scholarships at Fisher and maintain them immediately,” said Riley. “So it’s a very good, very generous gift.”
The Fishers’ donation is also being counted towards the university’s ASCEND campaign. According to Lumpkin, in addition to funding projects like the Anderson Academic Commons, the project is focused on raising money for scholarships, endowed chairs and professorships. Since its inception, the campaign has raised more than $450 million.
