“LIFE-CHANGING IMPACTS”: BEQUEST SUPPORTS OPPORTUNITY AND EXPERIENCE

The more Deb Metz and Ron Scoma learned about Hobart and William Smith, the more opportunities they saw to make a difference in the lives of students for generations to come.

Their generous bequest celebrates first-generation students and will provide wide-ranging research opportunities, with support for an endowed scholarship and four endowed summer research positions.

Both first-generation college graduates, “Ron and I had often talked about what the implications might have been for ourselves if we had the opportunity to attend a college like HWS, and we wondered about the possibility of supporting a student with circumstances similar to our own to pursue a degree at HWS,” Metz says.

She and Scoma are especially inspired by the personal and academic support built into HWS’ First Generation Program and Undergraduate Summer Research Program, she says.

Scoma, who grew up in the foster care system and worked his way through college, says that he saw his undergraduate education as an opportunity for a successful professional life.

“It is important to both of us that any student who might receive this assistance has an opportunity to take advantage of as much as possible of what HWS has to offer,” he says.

The Ronald Scoma and Deborah Metz Endowed Scholarship will assist academically qualified first-generation students, while the Deborah Metz and Ronald Scoma Endowed Summer Research Fund in Honor of Professor Nicholas Metz will create new avenues for research collaborations between students and faculty.

By supporting students in these ways, Metz says, “the idea of creating an educational legacy through HWS seems like a ‘perfect fit.’ ”