THE POWER OF APPRECIATED ASSSETS
SMU Alumni Danielle and Michael Starkweather and their children
New podiatric medicine scholarship recognizes skills gained by student athletes, who "learn how to work with people, communicate, and deal with success and failure."
Alumni Michael Starkweather, DPM '03, and his wife Danielle Starkweather, BSN '03, have endowed a scholarship to help recognize and recruit student athletes to study podiatric medicine at the Samuel Merritt University College of Podiatric Medicine.
Michael explained, "Danielle and I appreciate the education we received at Samuel Merritt University and we want to encourage outstanding students to choose SMU. The skills gained in sports are important. Student athletes learn how to work with people, communicate, and deal with success and failure.They develop focus and manage their time and commitments well, so they can succeed academically while competing athletically."
Both Michael and Danielle were student athletes themselves. Michael played football at Albion College in Michigan, where his practices during football season could run three hours or longer each day. Danielle ran cross country at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California, as she completed the joint SMU/St. Mary's BSN program.
Enduring commitment to helping others
As SMU students, Michael and Danielle found strong support from their classmates and faculty. Danielle explained, "School can be demanding and serious, but classes were small and it was easy to approach instructors. Competing in cross country was a healthy outlet that allowed for fun and friendships." Some of her best friends in college came through cross country, as well as her nursing program, and they all supported each other through cross-country competitions, nursing exams, and clinical experiences.
Michael shared, "Everyone was close in my class; we joked around and studied together. We wanted each other to succeed." He wants current students to know, "You will get through it! The constant testing and stress eventually go away and, in the end, it will be worth it."
The focus on helping others is now integral to the Starkweathers' commitment to their patients. Today Michael is a podiatric doctor at Dignity Health in Woodland, California, and Danielle works as a nurse in pre-operative and recovery at a surgery center. Danielle loves comforting her patients during stressful medical situations by helping, listening, or even distracting them. Michael, too, takes great satisfaction in contributing to his patients' well-being. He values his patients and his clinical team and appreciates the balance of medicine, family life, and sports made possible through his career as a podiatrist.
Financial aid for students
The Starkweather scholarship will help reduce one stressor for students, the cost of their education, which is cited by many students as a significant concern. At SMU, 85% of undergraduate students and 90% of graduate students receive some form of financial aid assistance, including loans, which can take years and sometimes decades to repay.
Scholarship size varies at SMU. In 2023, the average scholarship per student is about $10,000 for Nursing and $14,000 for Podiatric Medicine students. Top DPM students, evaluated holistically, receive as much as $100,000 in scholarships and grants over four years. Current program costs are estimated at $133,000 for the BSN degree and $234,000 for the DPM degree, so even with help from scholarships, students make significant investments to cover their education costs.
Strategic giving with appreciated assets
Michael and Danielle established their scholarship endowment with a gift of appreciated stock, since the tax benefits made their gift go further. Some donors give shares of appreciated assets to receive a charitable income tax deduction and avoid capital gains taxes. These donors find they can achieve philanthropic goals without affecting their cash flow and sometimes can make a larger gift than might be possible with a cash gift.
Giving through donor advised funds (DAF) is another popular strategy for channeling gains from appreciated assets into charitable endeavors. In this case, donors make an irrevocable gift to a DAF with investment assets including stocks, real estate, or other assets, and receive an immediate tax deduction for their donation. The DAF assets can be invested for tax-free growth and the donors then make grants from their DAF to Samuel Merritt University and other qualified charities.
Learn more
Learn how you, too, can make a strategic gift and support students at www.giftlegacy.samuelmerritt.edu . For more information about gifts of stocks and bonds, visit this page or ask for a free brochure.
SMU is grateful to each and every donor who supports existing SMU scholarships and establish new ones to lower the financial cost for students. To learn more about supporting a scholarship, visit www.samuelmerritt.edu/giving or reach out to a staff member for assistance.
