The Will to Do Well

I selected Pace, where I was an undergraduate, for my scholarship fund. What distinguishes Pace for me is its high national ranking for the upward economic mobility of its graduates. Pace is among the universities with the highest number of first-generation graduates — and I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. We were a middle-income family and my parents paid for my schooling. George and Grace Mackay are my late parents, after whom I named my Pace scholarship fund.

So many students — and especially women — do not pursue the sciences. Despite the fact that science is not my own natural tendency, I respect its importance and that's why I decided to offer an opportunity to students who want to choose scientific studies. My thought was this: If students are motivated and qualified but they can't afford their education, maybe I can help.

Granting a scholarship gave me joy. I selected the initial criteria for awarding the scholarship, but Pace fielded the candidates and found the beneficiary. It's smarter and more convenient for the donor, and avoids any potential conflicts of interest.

I was so pleased to receive an email from a student who had received support from my scholarship fund. He was teaching at Hunter College and had been accepted to the Ph.D. engineering program at Princeton. And he is on full scholarship — in a program with a two percent acceptance rate. I had met him at Pace scholarship dinners, the annual event bringing alumni scholarship donors together with their student recipients, and later we met for a meal near Princeton because I wanted to congratulate him in person. His email made me so happy.

The Pace scholarship dinners are gratifying because your gift is more meaningful to you as a donor when you can meet the student who is benefiting from your generosity. You can connect someone's face and their name to what you've given. I think it's meaningful for the student too, to be able to meet the source of their scholarship funding.

Pace approached me about possibly setting up a scholarship fund as a way to support the university. It was an interesting idea that would have real impact in someone's life, and over time I realized what a worthwhile thing it would be for me to do. I liked the idea of having something continue on beyond myself — an educational legacy for my own life.

Pace's reputation in upward mobility is one of the reasons I am most proud of my involvement. Pace is doing a very good job with the liberal arts and also with internships — in other words, general problem-solving combined with practical experience — and that produces a great package in a new graduate. If your parents didn't go to college, how can you know what you're supposed to do to attend? Given that they comprise a population that is eager to learn but may not have a college-oriented background, Pace students prove that they have the will to do well.

It sets you up to have a positive outlook on life when somebody who doesn't know you is willing to help you do well. One of the most important things anyone can have is an education, because nobody can take that away from you. Facilitating education is probably the best thing you can do for somebody.

Contact Marc Potolsky at mpotolsky@pace.edu or 212-346-1619 to see how you can use a gift in your estate plan to create a legacy of learning at Pace.