Left to Right: Joan Iversen, her sister, Dawn Danielson, and her mother, Jean McAtamney. Kali is in front.

We’ve just heard from the advancement office at the State University of New York at Oneonta that the Dr. Joan Iversen Memorial Scholarship has passed the $25,000 mark! This means it’s now endowed forever, or in development speak “in perpetuity.”

Thanks to all who have made the scholarship possible! My mom would have been so touched by all the people who gave to continue her legacy, to “pay forward” what she gave to each of us.

Some of you know may that my dad, Jack Iversen, died last month, April 21, 2014. In his final days, he felt good knowing that her scholarship would be secured in the weeks following his death.

We are continuing to accept gifts “to grow” my mom’s scholarship–as it grows it will provide more support to the Women’s/Gender Studies student who receives it. For this reason, I’ve changed the scholarship “goal” to $30,000, just because that’s a good round number.

We also are beginning a scholarship in my father’s name, Professor Jack Iversen, to support a psychology major interested in pursuing a career in school psychology or alcohol/drug abuse prevention/treatment field, who also has demonstrated a commitment to social justice. To donate to either scholarship, see our Donate Now page – just specify in the memo either “Dr. Joan Iversen Scholarship” or “Prof. Jack Iversen Scholarship” to indicate where you would like your donation to go.

We just received the Nov/Dec Scholarship updates and have learned that the Dr. Joan Iversen Memorial Scholarship fund is now at $13,245 — we are more than halfway there! Our goal of $25,000 minimum is clear sight (and we have 4.5 years more to get there).

Thanks to all the donors — your vision & generosity has made this possible.

If you’re interested in paying forward what you received from Joan Iversen through supporting the scholarship, you can make a gift here.  Continue reading →

We Can Do It! War poster by J. Howard Miller evoking the icon Rosie the Riveter

Thanks to all who have given to the scholarship — we just passed the $6000 mark! And almost 50 different people have given so far. It feels wonderful to see a scholarship that’s being built by all the people touched by Joan Iversen, a way for each of us to take what she gave us and to pay it forward.

Please consider joining all of us as we pay forward what Joan gave to each of us: donate now.

The Ripple Effect

Reading the stories of how my mom has changed lives has left me in awe and grateful. I’ve learned so much about her and about each person who has taken the time to share a story. If you are someone who feels that she gave you a gift, I’m inviting you to consider “paying it forward” by donating to her scholarship so that someone else can have the gift of education. I know it’s something that she would have been both humbled about and proud of, because education was so important to her.

No donation is too small — personally, I love the idea of a scholarship fund that has grown because of gifts from all the people whose lives she touched, it’s like each donor is giving her back a piece of themselves. I know that a small donation, like $25, seems like a small amount when you hear that we need to raise $20,000 more. But when you look at it another way, only 800 people need to give $25 for us to reach that goal, or 200 people giving $100. That doesn’t seem like an unachievable goal — so many of you have written about her touching thousands of lives.

Wondering why a donation-funded scholarship is needed at a state university? Then you might want to read about why we chose a scholarship to honor her legacy

Want to give now, online? donate to the College at Oneonta Foundation and choose “Other” under Designation for Funds and specify “Dr. Joan Iversen Memorial Scholarship” in the text box after “Other.”

Read more here about how to mail your donation, and about how to be acknowledged as a donor on this blog.

Photo credit: Photo on Flickr, provided by Richard Freeman through Creative Commons licensing.

My mom was a life-long learner long before that term had ever been coined. Even throughout her retirement she read the New York Times daily, listened to National Public Radio, watched several news shows a day, and continued to read about the periods of history she had focused on in her teaching days.

A a lifelong learner, she was passionate about the power of education. And as the first generation in her family to attend college, she understood all too well how it opened up possibilities that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.

Her students, teaching, and education were central to who she was. During her memorial service we joked about how, even in retirement, she continued to teach people that she encountered everywhere (laundromats, campgrounds, grocery stores), even when they didn’t think they needed instruction.

After her retirement, my mom watched in concern as tuition costs for higher education rose, especially those for public higher education. I remember her distress about the decreasing state support for public universities: NY State tax dollars now provide only about 12% of the support for the total budget at the State University of New York at Oneonta– these trends resulted in a huge decrease from the support levels of about 80% that characterized public higher education 20 years ago.  It was clear to her that tuition levels had risen significantly to fill the budget gaps left by decreasing state support. As a result, she was very concerned that access to higher education was becoming even more limited for those from the middle and working classes.

So after my mom’s death, given her passion for students and education, it was never a question for our family that a scholarship to support the values that she championed would be an important way to solidify her legacy. I know that she would be pleased to be able to make college possible for students confronting significant financial barriers posed by the cost of tuition.

Interested in Donating to the Scholarship?

Checks can be made out to the “College at Oneonta Foundation” memo: “Dr. Joan Iversen Memorial Scholarship”-mail to: Office of College Advancement, 308 Netzer Admin Bldg, Oneonta, NY 13820.

To give to the scholarship online, go to the College at Oneonta Foundation Giving Page and choose “Other” under Designation for Funds and specify “Dr. Joan Iversen Memorial Scholarship” in the text box after “Other.”

The College at Oneonta Foundation will be updating me periodically about who has given. But I would love it if there weren’t a lag in receiving that information. So if you’ve given and would be willing to let me acknowledge your gift online in some way (full name, first name only, anonymous, or whatever) please send me an email at smythnj at gmail dot com.

~ By Nancy Smyth, Dr. Joan Iversen’s daughter, on behalf of Jack Iversen and then entire Iversen-Smyth clan.

Photo credits: #1: from the US National Archives on Flickr, and #2: by Stephanie Amesse on Flickr

Thanks so much to each and every person who has supported the Dr. Joan Iversen Scholarship. I received a list of 39 donors (not including me) from the College at Oneonta Foundation last week. I have permission to share the names of a handful of donors so far – I will need to write to most of them to ask for permission to share their names. But I thought it would be a good time to start the donor acknowledgement page, so it’s now published, waiting for me to add more names.

If you have donated, you can really speed up the acknowledgment process by letting me know it’s okay to name you in the donor list. Continue reading →

I just received my first update from the College at Oneonta Foundation and I’m excited to report that we have successfully raised $4,955! This means that we are almost at 20% of our goal (just $45 short, proof that every dollar counts).

I think this is really wonderful progress given that we have 5 years to reach our goal of $25,000 and that many people are still only just learning of my mom’s death. But just because we have 5 years to reach the goal doesn’t mean we need to take 5 years to reach it. The sooner we reach that goal, the sooner a student will receive the first scholarship award.

Thanks so much to everyone who has donated so far! I, and my family, really appreciate your support. I know my mom would be pleased, too, although she would also be pushing us to do better (since that was what she did ALL the time!).

Shortly, I will be making an acknowledgements page to publicly thank each person who has given. I will, of course, be contacting each person who has donated (the college will be sending me a list) to ask for permission to list your name. Continue reading →

The progress thermometer is now just at a starting point. I’m still awaiting the first official update from the folks at the College at Oneonta Foundation. The $2000 number is simply the amount I’m starting with–it’s based on the checks that were handed to me at the time of my mom’s memorial service and my own donation. It doesn’t yet include any donations that have been made online or that have been sent directly to the college. The staff there told me that they give regular updates if gifts are being made. The Academy has a pace that works well in its world. However, I know at the university where I work, those updates don’t come in “internet time.” I’ll be contacting the people at the College at Oneonta Foundation to see if we can find a faster update mechanism.