A gift of $750,000 from Janet Valder will be used to bolster the existing endowed fund earlier established by Janet and her late husband, Michael (’62) in support of social justice initiatives at Loras College. The gift, made in honor of Valder’s late husband, will raise the total corpus of the fund to $1 million to provide greater and more sustained support to the initiatives the fund supports.
As part of the agreement, the fund will be renamed the Loras Peace, Justice and Diversity Endowed Fund. Previously known as The Valder Social Justice Scholarship, the fund invests in the personal growth of Loras community members related to a number of areas, including interfaith understanding, social justice, environmental justice and sustainability, immigration, inclusion and racial diversity (inter alia).
The fund was created by Mike and Janet in 1987 in honor of Mike’s brother, Robert Valder (’60), a civil rights organizer in the South. While it started as an award in name and a financial contribution to student experiences centered on social justice, the endowed fund now supports summer internship experiences for rising seniors at social justice organizations in addition to faculty and staff projects that align with the mission and vision of the fund.
