When he was a high school senior in Virginia, Michael Pearson Jr., ’03, JD’06, desperately wanted to go to the University of Michigan. While his father’s military career brought him to the Washington, D.C., area, Pearson was born in Michigan and wanted to study at U-M.
“The concept of going to school in Ann Arbor was something that had been a focus, a goal, and a dream of mine for many years,” Pearson says.
Getting in was one hurdle, but finding a way to pay for out-of-state tuition was another entirely. That’s when his high school guidance counselor told him about a newer scholarship from the U-M Club of Washington, D.C. At the time, the scholarship, established by Samuel, ’69, and Bobbi Chappell, ’67, was $20,000, with payments spread across eight semesters.
Pearson was the second recipient of the scholarship, and he realized his dream by going to U-M for undergraduate and law school. He is just one of dozens to have received the Samuel L. Chappell Family UMDC Scholarship. Today, the scholarship awards $50,000 to one student and a second $10,000 scholarship, each spread across their undergraduate semesters. In total, the scholarship has funded nearly $1 million in UMDC scholarships to students, and another $200,000 in scholarships for other programs such as the Michigan in Washington program and the Public Service Intern Program.
“The main impetus is to help the students from the D.C. area, from the DMV [District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia] attend the University of Michigan,” Samuel Chappell says.
The annual Congressional Breakfast, which is organized by the U-M Club of Washington, D.C., fundraises for the scholarship. This year, the event raised a record $147,000 from individual donations and corporate sponsorships.
After graduating from U-M, Samuel Chappell spent his career in the Army, serving for more than 31 years. He says the scholarship is a way to give back and stay connected to the University.
“I try to stay in touch with all of them,” Chappell says about the scholarship recipients. “Typically, when I go back to Ann Arbor, I send them a note to ask if they would like to grab coffee.
“I live vicariously through them,” he says. “We’re immensely proud of the students themselves and we wish we could do more.”
One of those students is Sylvia Escolero, ’15, MD’21. Originally from Maryland, Escolero was awarded the first of another scholarship the Chappell family started through the Alumni Association’s LEAD Scholars program.
Having a large funding gap, and not wanting to take on a big loan, Escolero thought her dreams of going to U-M might be lost before the scholarship closed the gap.
“I did the calculations, this is the exact amount I need. Not just for the first year, but every single year so I could enjoy my college experience and not be stressed and worried, and I could just go experience Michigan,” she says.
Later, she attended U-M’s medical school and is now a neurologist. Escolero says she’s immensely grateful to Samuel and Bobbi for their generosity and their friendship as she meets with them regularly to catch up.
Pearson, too, has kept in touch with the pair. After returning to the D.C. area to practice law, he reached out to see how he could get involved with the scholarship. Today, Pearson is the co-chair of the scholarship committee.
He says the selection process is always incredibly difficult.
“By the second interview, I always think, ‘Well, we’re going to have to come up with more scholarships.’ We have so many deserving high school students and we would like nothing more than to support them to become Wolverines. I think every year that it’s a good thing I was applying in 1999, because I’m not sure I’d get into the school today, let alone with this scholarship,” he says.
Pearson says the scholarship is more than just financial backing; it’s also the knowledge that the local alumni have picked them.
“We wanted them to be one of us — a Michigan alum,” Pearson says. “It was incredibly important for me to hear that as a high school student and it’s important for us to tell these students now, ‘We want you to be a Wolverine.’”
Jeremy Carroll is the director of content and creative strategy for the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan.
