Arcadia University is the recent recipient of a $1 million gift from Michael F. Young, the husband of the late Sue E. Young ’63. The donation established the Sue Ellen Young ’63 Endowed Scholarship, which will provide financial aid for students who are single parents. 

“On behalf of everyone at Arcadia University, I offer my deepest gratitude and personal thanks to Michael F. Young and his family for this transformative, $1 million gift,” said Dr. Ajay Nair, president of Arcadia University. “Sue has been an indelible member of this University community for more than 60 years, and the support she and her family have provided Arcadia and its students has been and continues to be transformative for our institution and to our students. This gift, and the opportunities it will provide for single parents, epitomizes the term ‘impact philanthropy’ at Arcadia.”

Sue Ellen Young graduated from Beaver College in 1963 and went on to serve her community as an elementary school teacher and later as an entrepreneur in real estate, establishing one of the first women-owned real estate companies in Pennsylvania.

In 2006, the Young family established the Geraldine and John Yerger Endowed Scholarship, which was also intended to lessen the financial hurdles single parents face once enrolled in college. Her desire to be a blessing to single mothers was born out of her own experience. At the age of 28, after the loss of her first husband, Sue Ellen became a single parent to five boys. She named the endowed scholarship after her parents, Geraldine and John Yerger.

Her husband Michael continues her vision with the Sue Ellen Young ’63 Endowed Scholarship which provides special preference for single parent students who maintain sole custody of their child or children, and who receive no external financial support for the care of the child or children. 

To learn more about giving opportunities at Arcadia, contact Brigette A. Bryant, vice president for Development and Alumni Engagement, at bryantb@arcadia.edu.