The University of Alaska Anchorage announced Friday that it has received $7 million from an unknown source. It is the largest private donation in the university's history.
Most of the money is to be used for student scholarships, particularly for women and minorities. Another stipulation: The university cannot try to find out who the donor is.
Those same stipulations have been given to the more than dozen universities that have been handed at least $80 million recently by the benefactor.
The one thing all the schools have in common is that they are all run by women. The list includes Michigan State, Binghamton University in New York, Montclair State University in New Jersey, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Gifts have ranged from $1.5 million to $10 million.
UAA's Chancellor Fran Ulmer received her notice of largess in a FedEx box that arrived at her office in March, she said. The box contained a simple letter telling her about the money and about the condition of anonymity. Ulmer wouldn't say much more about the letter or other clues that might help figure it out. Where did the box come from? What did the letterhead say? What bank transferred the money?
She wouldn't say. She signed a document saying she would honor the anonymity if the person.
"We have no idea who this person is," Ulmer said. "It may have been somebody that I met along the way. It may have been someone who went to school here. It may have been somebody who's traveled through Alaska a dozen times and they love to go fishing here. I mean, who knows?"
The university is putting $1 million of the gift toward opening the newly built Conoco Phillips Integrated Science Building this fall.
The remaining $6 million will be put into an endowment fund and invested. The university will offer full scholarships to 50 students a year -- forever, officials hope. It will be called the Seawolf Opportunities Scholarship, and it will be available to need-based Alaskans who are first generation college students in their families. Only first-time freshmen can apply.
Many of the universities receiving money are thanking the donor for giving at a time when the national recession is hitting families and schools. While UAA has not been asked to make painful budget cuts, it is seeing the effects of the recession with more applications for financial aid, and it is predicting increases in its enrollment next fall as more students may choose to stay in Alaska for a less-expensive education.
Applications for financial aid for next year are up 18 percent from this time last year, said Ted Malone, director of student financial assistance.
The university has structured the scholarship to provide incentive for students to finish their associate or bachelor's degrees by giving more money after the first year.
The university, which grew out of a merger with a community college in the 1980s, serves many students who are working toward two-year associate degrees, who start at UAA then transfer to other schools or who take just a single course. UAA, though, is becoming a more traditional university, with fewer students commuting and more students who are recent high school graduates seeking four-year degrees, administrators say. It is trying to get more students to finish with UAA degrees.
This year, the university is handing out its largest number of degrees ever, about 2,200, said Bruce Schultz, interim vice chancellor for student affairs.
Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.