Haverford College Announces Funding for Research, Teaching, Experiential Learning, and Student Support to Address Racial Injustice and Bolster Campus Inclusion Efforts

Haverford College is launching four new programs to support the College’s commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable community. These new programs, supported by philanthropy, represent the latest steps in the College’s ongoing efforts to address systemic racism and ensure that all students, especially those from historically and currently minoritized groups, thrive academically and personally at Haverford.

The Wintner-Love Fellowship will provide paid summer research internships through the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center (KINSC) for students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Starting this summer, this fellowship program will grow over time to fund five to ten student researchers a year thanks to the generosity of Joyce and Ted Love ’81, P’15, P’17, who named the program for Claude Wintner, the emeritus professor of chemistry who served as an important mentor to Ted.

"My life's trajectory was dramatically altered at Haverford by being able to fully see and embrace my full potential, and do the work to secure it," said Ted Love, president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics and a physician. "When I was in doubt as a freshman, Claude Wintner fostered my self-confidence with how he taught, mentored, and supported me. Joyce and I hope that every student in need finds their own Claude Wintner."

Another new fellowship launching this summer, the Philadelphia Justice and Equity Fellows, will provide paid summer and academic year internships through the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship (CPGC) at select partner organizations working actively in Philadelphia to address issues of justice and equity and confronting systemic racism. These internships build on existing relationships the CPGC has with organizations including the Abolitionist Law Center, the African Family Health Organization, the Asian Arts Initiative, the Black Doctors COVID Consortium, the City of Philadelphia, the Education Law Center, Puentes de Salud, Read by the 4th, Shift Capital, and Ujima Friends Peace Center. These fellowships are made possible by a new endowed fund created by the Board and Corporation of Haverford College and seeded by Aleta and Paul Zoidis ’81, P’11.

"I am inspired to contribute to the Philadelphia Justice and Equity Fellows Fund because it supports several academic and social objectives that will uniquely strengthen Haverford," said Charley Beever ’74, chair of the Board of Managers. "The Fund provides a tangible opportunity for Haverford students to better understand, and to more productively engage with, social justice issues. It also provides a laboratory for how best to deliver experiential learning as a component of Haverford’s excellent liberal arts education. Finally, it highlights one of Haverford’s strengths; proximity to the large, diverse, and complex Philadelphia urban environment. I am thankful to Paul Zoidis and his family for their leadership in establishing a Fund with such broad promise and benefit for Haverford."

Additionally, there are two new funds created by the Haverford College president and her husband that will provide annual and enduring budgets to sustain ongoing racial justice education and support for LGBTQIA+ students on campus. The Wendy Raymond and David Backus 1982 Presidential Fund for Anti-Racism Programs will support faculty research and teaching that engages students in the study of anti-racism, racial equity, and racial justice. The fund will enable faculty hiring, teaching, curricular development, scholarship, and creative work in areas of study that recognize and extend our understanding of contemporary and historical racism. The Wendy Raymond and David Backus 1982 Presidential Fund for LGBTQIA+ Student Programs will support staffing and resources, including mental and physical healthcare, to assist and celebrate students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, gender fluid, or nonbinary so that they can thrive in all aspects, including academics, of their Haverford experience.

"Establishing these two endowed funds allows David and me to support Haverford while the College strives for a future of equity, belonging, and thriving for all students, faculty, and staff," said President Wendy Raymond. "Our hope is that these funds will support a concerted effort by Haverford to become an anti-racist and inclusive institution by supporting faculty that whole-heartedly engage in anti-racism scholarship and teaching, and by making Haverford a place where all LGBTQIA+ students can thrive. We are educators who have long invested in diversity, equity, and inclusion. These gifts meaningfully connect our personal passions with Haverford’s future success."