Do scholarship recipients owe donors their stories? Is it the institution’s or the student’s responsibility to steward donors? What is higher education’s role in ethical storytelling? Questions like these, in concert with this important moment in time for our industry—when admissions policies and the cost of education are creating debate and disruption—signal a necessity to evaluate scholarship recognition practices and reconceptualize scholarship celebrations.

In this session, learn how Harvard University audited and reimagined its annual scholarship event to create an experience that put students and donors on equal footing, allowing them to come as their whole selves, while achieving the goals of the organization and its administration. From discovery, to strategy, to execution, to post-event analysis—learn which adjustments worked, which didn’t, and what Harvard learned in its first year of offering this reimagined event.

Intermediate Track