A Transformational Gift
College was a foreign concept to visionary entrepreneur David Walentas (Engr ’61, GSBA ’64) when he was growing up.
Neither of his parents held degrees—in fact, he did not know anyone who did. Although he would eventually become the most generous benefactor in the history of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, in the 1940s and ’50s, Walentas was a child in a poor, working-class family in Rochester, New York.
In school, Walentas was an excellent student. But he also liked to break the rules. During one of his many sojourns to the principal’s office, he noticed a Navy ROTC poster hanging on the wall. Soon after, he decided to take a step that no one in his family had taken before: He applied to the University of Virginia.
“I knew that [college] was a way out of poverty and a path to opportunity,” Walentas told UVA Today.
His penchant for troublemaking never really went away. Walentas was accepted to U.Va. but subsequently expelled after a clandestine overnight trip to Hollins, a nearby women’s college. Several years later, however, he returned to the University to finish his degree and earn his M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business. In time, he made his way toward New York City, continuing along the path that would eventually lead him to make a truly transformational gift—one that will launch the Walentas Scholars Program and, in turn, change the lives of first-generation college students and their families for many years to come.
David Walentas’ gift is the largest in U.Va. history devoted entirely to scholarships, fellowships, and professorships. His family’s generosity kicked off the public phase of the University’s $5 billion Honor the Future campaign, and it focuses on the campaign’s top priorities: faculty excellence and student access. It also furthers the Jefferson Scholars Foundation’s $250 million goal that is part of the University’s overall campaign.
In addition to the Walentas Scholars Program—which will recruit and support first-generation Scholars not only from the Commonwealth of Virginia but also from Walentas’s hometown of Rochester, New York, and from New York City, where he built his real estate business—the Walentas gift will fund first-generation students identified through the Future Year Scholars Program, an initiative that enables the Darden School to recruit exceptional undergraduate students to join its world-class M.B.A. program. Additionally, the gift will provide funding for the Darden Jefferson Fellowship Program; support the A. Macdonald Caputo Leadership Excellence Fund; establish a Jefferson Scholars Foundation Visiting Professorship; and create three Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professorships, one in real estate at the Darden School and two for University President Jim Ryan to determine the highest and best use.
“It’s no exaggeration in the slightest to emphasize, with incredible gratitude, that this is one of the most significant gifts that the University of Virginia has ever received. Not only because of its size, but because of the difference it will make for U.Va., for the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, and for the world of higher education.”U.Va. President Jim Ryan
Ryan said that he expected the new scholarships for first-generation students to “propel [the University] to the next level” in attracting and retaining students who are the first in their families to pursue a college degree.
The Walentas Scholars Program will officially launch in 2021, and its specific features are still taking shape. Hart plans to speak with first-generation alumni and current students, inviting a variety of perspectives to inform the development process. “The Walentas Scholars Program will be much more than room and board, tuition, and financial support,” she says. “It will also be a community that celebrates the tremendous talent and perseverance that I anticipate will lie within each Walentas Scholar.”
While the nurturing of each individual Scholar will be vital to the program’s success, Hart says it’s also important to acknowledge how the generosity of the Walentas family will lead to transformation on a much larger scale.
“The ripple effect of the Walentas Scholars Program will reach far into the future,” Hart says. “It’s exhilarating to think that the Foundation can support a first-generation student at the University of Virginia and that, 50 years from now, their children and grandchildren will continue to reap the benefits of the fact that they were able to pursue a college education.”
