gettysburg eisenhower scholarship

In a revealing letter from 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes renaming his scholarship fund at Gettysburg College to honor his wife, Mamie.

Dear Harry,

It has been suggested that the Gettysburg College scholarship fund be renamed in honor of my wife. I am most deeply touched and grateful for this suggestion, which although I have not discussed with her, I know would please her immensely. I hope you will be able to arrange this; if not we can still name the fund after me.

I did not know until recently that there is a Mamie Doud Eisenhower Scholarship Fund at Smith College; but since there is one at that institution, it would seem appropriate to name the Gettysburg fund after Mrs. Eisenhower also.

This project has come about through a letter to me from the President of Smith College (Mary H. Wooley) in which she wrote: “Last summer when my husband and I were in Europe we called upon Gen-eral Eisenhower’s mother-in-law, Mrs. John S. Doud of Denver, with whom we had become acquainted during our stay in Colorado Springs several years ago… She told us then her happy experience with General and Mrs. Eisenhower when they visited us at Smith three or four years ago… At this meeting last year she mentioned that it was her wish to set up some sort of memorial to honor General and Mrs.-Eisenhower for their thoughtfulness on that occasion.”

Sincerely yours,

Gettysburg College President Robert L. Christ offers to rename the scholarship in light of General Eisenhower’s wishes.

• General Eisenhower, former U.S. president and grandson of President Abraham Lincoln, earned a scholarship to attend Gettysburg College. As the son of a farmer and grandson of the nation’s greatest commander, he showed many signs of great promise as a student and an athlete. Unfortunately, he died in 1955 before graduating.
• After his death in May 1955, Mrs. Eisenhower was offered a scholarship to continue her studies at Gettysburg College to honor his memory and accomplishments by serving as an inspiration to others. She chose not to accept this scholarship because she felt that it would be inappropriate for her personally because it was not meant for her exclusively.[10]

We have respectfully decided that we will rename this scholarship in honor of General Eisenhower so that it will always be known as the “General Mamie Eisnhower Scholarship.”

In a brief acceptance letter, Mamie Eisenhower expresses her gratitude for the honor and says she is “perfectly willing” to have the scholarship bear her name.

Dear Mr. Christ:

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to accept your kind offer of making the scholarship which you have been so thoughtful as to establish in my name, for the benefit of students at Gettysburg College. I am greatly appreciative of and grateful for your consideration and that of General Eisenhower, and also to all who may contribute toward the fund.

I can not tell you how thrilled I am over the generous gift from the Class of 1909 and its members who have made this scholarship possible for future students. It is gratifying to know that these men have made it possible for one student each year from now on to attend Gettysburg College through their generosity, thoughtfulness and consideration. A great debt is owed them by everyone associated with Gettysburg College and by me personally because they are making it possible for some child in the years ahead whose desire it may be, but who may not be able to afford an education at this college, will get that chance through this scholarship.

In support of the Robert L. Christ Scholarships, Gettysburg College alumnus Frank Giddings sends a gift to the college on behalf of himself and seven other alumni.

“As you know,” he wrote, “I am a strong supporter of Gettysburg College. This is especially true when it comes to scholarships, which are such important parts of the Gettysburg experience, both for the institution and for students.

While I was still a student at Gettysburg, I had the opportunity to work with Eisenhower Scholarships on campus—helping to screen candidates and support them in their pursuit of this scholarship. So as an alumnus, I was happy to support these worthwhile efforts with my gift.”

The Honorable John Milton Cooper says that he has always admired General Eisenhower’s character and leadership because of an incident that occurred when Cooper was a page in Congress.

In response to this prompt, the Honorable John Milton Cooper has provided the following account of his experience as a congressional page in 1933-35, and his meeting with General Eisenhower as Cooper was being sent to the White House during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

“I was a Congressional Page from March or April 1933 until June 1935. In that time I met President Franklin Roosevelt, lived with two other Pages in a room on Capitol Hill, and assisted Senators and Congressmen with their duties. On one occasion when I went to get my shoes shined outside of the Senate Chamber, there were two men standing there beside me. As we talked it became clear that they were both Army Generals. One said he was an aide to General Douglas MacArthur; the other told me he was an aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. They asked me what I did and I explained that I was a Page for Senator Gerald Prentice Nye (Republican) of North Dakota. The aide said “Oh! We are here because Nye is having hearings regarding military preparedness and whether or not we should go into World War II against Adolph Hitler in Germany.”

Former Congressman Herbert Tenzer argues for “full recognition” of internationalism among college students, arguing that an international exchange program would help ensure peace in the Cold War era.

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You can motivate yourself without being mean to yourself.

• Reward yourself for your accomplishments. Celebrate your successes and make sure you are rewarded by patting yourself on the back after a good day’s work. Make a list of your achievements and keep it handy so that you can review it when you need encouragement.
• Do something nice for yourself. Perform kind acts for yourself such as taking time out of the day to do something fun or indulging in some retail therapy to motivate yourself. You deserve it!
• Argue with yourself positively. Talk back to any negative voices in your head and remind them of all the positives about you and your situation, then come up with ways to turn those negatives into positives through self-talk.
• Be kind to yourself. Accept both positive and negative aspects of your personality, but try not to put too much weight on either side of that spectrum—or any other spectrum, for that matter—and just be kinder overall towards others (and especially toward you).