Sam Rose ’58, one of Dickinson’s most substantial donors of recent years, pledged to match $10 million of donations towards Dickinson’s “Change a Life—Change the World” scholarship campaign, helping the fundraiser towards its $75 million goal.

Dickinson President John E. Jones III ’77 P’11 said, “Sam Rose is a Dickinson treasure. We should all celebrate his commitment and philanthropy because it is unprecedented in the history of our college. While few can match Sam’s giving capacity, he has given all of us the opportunity to participate in the final push to take us to our $75 million goal.”

After graduating from Dickinson, Rose attended the University of Baltimore School of Law before transitioning into a career in commercial real estate. Rose is extremely committed to the environment and decreasing human impact. Alongside his passion for the environment his donations are an effort to help increase opportunities for students that are part of minority communities. 

After graduating from Dickinson, he wanted to help increase diversity at the college, allocating funds towards helping students that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford college. He wants these opportunities to help increase access to higher education institutions, which it has. His ambitious donation goal to “Change a Life” is part of that effort. 

People in Rose’s network routinely praise the impacts of his philanthropy. According to a 2023 interview at Dickinson, Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network said that “Visionaries like Rose help lead an emerging generation of leaders toward building a better world.” 

Yeismarie Rivera-Olivo ‘26 believes donations like Rose’s are so important not only to help provide opportunities for students but also provide incentive for good work ethic. She says scholarships “act as a reward for kids who are busting their asses to get the grades to attend a school like Dickinson.” 

She believes that merit- and need-based scholarships go hand in hand and that they don’t have to be so separated. Merit scholarships reflect the hard work students put into their academia and they are important for acknowledging that. She also thinks that since aid programs like FAFSA help cover need-based tuition, merit scholarships reflect the passion and drive that a student has for wanting to learn.