Seeing the Long View

One hundred is often a milestone number.

100 pennies makes one dollar, 100 yards is the length of a football field, 100 percent on a test is a perfect score and 100 years marks a century.

It’s a nice round number and reaching it feels significant—like a stopping point to reflect on what has been accomplished and how that accomplishment will build an even brighter future.

We offer three stories of philanthropy that exemplify that kind of impact: 100 students helped from a single scholarship fund, the Samaritan Scholarship; nearly 100 years of annual gifts to a signature program, WKAR; and the nearly $100 million in support from MSU’s most generous donor, Eli Broad. 

Whether by supporting scholarships, programs, a new facility or any number of exciting initiatives at MSU, the donors in these stories—and all MSU donors—have created a legacy through their philanthropy that will be with us for a long, long time.

Because, the fact is, philanthropy has a way of spreading its good exponentially—and there is no shortage of creative, impactful to leave a mark—or, in Eli Broad’s words, to make things better. The only question is who will? But Spartans always know the answer to that. Read on:

Part 1: The Samaritan Scholarship: helping the stranger, exponentially

Judy and Jim DeLapa’s scholarship has made an incalculable difference for students who utilize the critical services of the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities during their time at MSU. This year, the fund provided its 100th scholarship.

Part 2: WKAR Public Media: thanks to 100 years of support

The public media station will turn 100 next year, largely due to 100 years’ worth of annual support from tens of thousands of donors.

Part 3: Eli Broad: changed MSU forever

The late Eli Broad and his wife Edythe have given more than $100 million to Michigan State over a span of decades—gifts that have changed the physical landscape of campus, and given life to a variety of academic programs.