From the Nominator

Helping the most talented and motivated students achieve the dream of a USC education, regardless of their financial situation, has always been a priority for the university. As far back as 1880, when tuition was $15 per term, students needed financial assistance, and donors throughout the USC community responded by making gifts to support them. 

The USC Viterbi Scholarship video for 2019 is an artful piece of visual storytelling that showcases the impact that providing scholarship and fellowship support has on our student scholars. Designed as a fundraising piece for major gift officers to use in the field for prospects interested in supporting our affordability campaign, this video highlights a diverse group of engineering students who received scholarship support, and demonstrates not only the impact of receiving support has on their academic lives, but shows how financial support allowed them to be a well-rounded engineer, the Engineer of Tomorrow.

The video also provides heartfelt expressions from featured students stating that, without scholarship support, they face the prospect of increased debt, part-time jobs, and potential lost opportunities for full participation in the academic and student life on campus. In some cases, concerns about paying off student loan debt upon graduation redirect students’ career choices, forcing students to make decisions based on salary potential rather than on passion and personal fulfillment.

This video wonderfully tells the story to our prospects. Donors were thanked directly, and new gifts closed because of it. It has had an enormous impact on our fundraising efforts.

From the Judges

The entry was compelling both from a visual and a narrative standpoint. As viewers we were able to witness the impact donors made on the lives of the recipients.