AS GOES HARVARD
Perhaps you know the adage, “As goes Harvard, so goes the nation.” Over time, the saying has been applied to admissions policies, curriculum shifts, grade inflation, and endowment size. Last Sunday night, Harvard Club of St. Louis made its 2026 Community Service Award to The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, passing along an etched glass piece and a monetary contribution to the Foundation’s work.
(l-r) Harvard Club of St. Louis members Ray Boshara, Raelene Angle-Graves, and Hillary Anger Elfenbein with Scholarship Foundation Executive Director Faith Sandler and Scholarship Foundation former board member and Harvard alumnus Sid Goldstein
Longtime friends of the Foundation are members and were present at the annual dinner. New friends were made that night as well. Among the most notable was Raelene (Rae) Angle-Graves, Harvard A.B. 2023 and now an Investment Strategies Analyst at Nisa Investment Advisors. Rae introduced The Scholarship Foundation:
It is my privilege, as Service Chair of the Harvard Club of St. Louis, to recognize an organization whose work reflects not only educational excellence, but also civic responsibility, opportunity, and hope.
This year’s service award is presented to The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. Founded in 1920, The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis was built on a simple but profound belief: that an educated society is essential to a healthy democracy. More than a century later, that mission remains just as urgent and just as inspiring. For generations, the Foundation has opened doors for students who had the talent, ambition, and drive to pursue higher education, but not necessarily the financial means to do so. In 2025 the Foundation funded 546 students and awarded a total of $5.4M in scholarship grants and $1.1M in interest-free loans.
What I find especially meaningful about their work is that it goes beyond financial assistance. In addition to providing scholarships and interest-free loans, the Foundation also offers financial counseling, advocacy, and student advising. At a time when higher education feels increasingly out of reach for many, organizations like The Scholarship Foundation remind us that investing in students is ultimately an investment in our entire community.
….what stands out is not simply organizational growth. It is the humanity behind it.
…students are not statistics or applications; they are individuals with dreams, burdens, potential, and stories worth investing in. And that belief matters. Because somewhere in St. Louis tonight, there is likely a student attending college who otherwise could not have. There is a first-generation graduate changing the trajectory of an entire family. There is someone contributing to our schools, hospitals, businesses, laboratories, nonprofits, and communities because this organization decided that their future was worth believing in.
That is real service. And it is exactly the kind of impact we are proud to recognize this evening.
In accepting the award, I commented that, on average, Scholarship Foundation students come from households with less than $2,000 to contribute to their students’ educational costs; they attend schools with annual costs averaging $34,000. Harvard’s most recently published cost of attendance hovered at $100,000 annually.
Hailing from Stockton, Missouri (pop 1,841) and first in her family to attend college, Rae knew how much more impact scholarships can have when wrapped in services that support students in other ways as well. Later in the evening, Rae and I had reason to share how important scholarships are to students to whom the term “legacy admission” does not apply.
We’re grateful to the Harvard Club of St. Louis for recognizing The Scholarship Foundation’s long history of service to the community. As Harvard goes, so goes the nation – toward educational opportunity, racial and economic equity, and scholarships and services that can truly change everything for young people ready to take the next step toward their dreams.
