Kathy Delsanter ’63, MS ’65 is among more than 50 Cornell alumni—representing class years that span seven decades—who established or significantly enhanced new affordability scholarships in fiscal year 2023. She leveraged the Undergraduate Affordability Challenge Match program to extend the reach and power of her gift.

“As an eighty-plus-year-old alumna looking back on a rewarding, fulfilling life while embracing Cornell’s to do the greatest good mantra, I look for places where I can do my part toward that end,” she said. “Socioeconomic diversity at Cornell is not easy to achieve. In addition to financial aid, support towards a strong, innovative, and focused student and campus life is also crucial.”

“That’s why supporting first-generation and low-income students has been my concern,” she adds. “Ever proud of Cornell’s need-blind admissions policy, I’ve sought ways to support these students, who, once admitted, might arrive on campus in an unfamiliar social environment with fewer-than-optimal supports in place to navigate their new, and possibly frustrating, transition to college life.”

“Working with Cornell’s Office of Trusts, Estates, and Gift Planning staff over the past several years has offered me patient, knowledgeable guidance as I am putting my wishes into place.”