Grateful Alumna Gives Back to Earlham
Sharrill “Sherry” Dittmann ’65
Sharrill “Sherry” Dittmann ’65 remembers a time at Earlham when students had to be back in their dorms before a 10:00 p.m. curfew, shorts couldn’t be worn on front campus and nobody ever walked across the Heart.
“Things were way different back then!” Sherry laughs, adding, “I still can’t walk on the Heart! People would lean out their dorm windows and holler at you.”
Although much has changed since Sherry’s time as a student, her love for Earlham and the education it provides is as strong as ever. Now as a donor, she reflects fondly on what inspires her to give back to the place she used to call home.
“I graduated 58 years ago—which seems like forever—so why? Why would I give?” she muses. “I think what it came down to is, I went to Earlham with matching values. I was raised Unitarian Universalist, and the first part of the covenant is the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and I think that just really summarizes Earlham—my experience at Earlham. I think of it as an incredibly nurturing and academically rigorous atmosphere.”
“I think going to liberal arts college is just so important,” Sherry goes on to add. “You have experiences there you never have anywhere else, and I got those at Earlham—not only in the classroom, but the experience of living with people with different majors, all the things we were wrestling with, different activities…so I think that was really important. I think it’s really living the values not only of Quakerism, but of liberal arts education, and I just treasure that. Frankly, I’m just so jealous of the students who are there now, because they have these incredible opportunities!”
Sherry gives philanthropically to Earlham in four different ways, which include:
- An IRA Rollover, which she designates toward financial aid. Sherry describes this straightforward method as “painless,” and enjoys receiving yearly stewardship letters from students, which decorate her fridge.
- An Earlham Day donation, when Sherry gathers with fellow Earlhamites in the D.C. area to celebrate Earlham’s annual day of giving.
- A bequest, which names Earlham as a beneficiary in her will (and which she also describes as a “totally painless!” gift of the future).
- A charitable gift annuity (CGA), which supports the College while providing her with a means of recurring income during her lifetime.
When asked what drew her towards doing a charitable gift annuity in particular, Sherry says, “I don’t know where I got the idea—I think you just hear about annuities, and I didn’t want one that was stocks and bonds or anything; I thought I’d do this for places that are important in my life. I had inherited some money from my parents and thought, ‘It’s way more than I need to live on, and I don’t have any children, so can I do some good with this?’ I had identified some places that I thought would promote my interests and do good in the long term. One group had a minimum investment of $50,000 (which was more than I was thinking), but Earlham just welcomed my contribution. It’s nice to know that Earlham’s using the money while I’m alive. It wasn’t so much the income, but just to know that I could meet some real-time needs.”
When considering the size and scope of a gift, she says, “I have a motto: ‘No gift is too small, no gift is too large.’ When I say to myself, ‘I should be giving more,’ I think: as important as how much you give, is that if you give a modest amount every year for 50 years, it’s a lot—and you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of regular charitable giving.”
Like so many Earlham donors, Sherry recognizes that a gift to Earlham goes far beyond campus—it’s a powerful way to do good in the world. “My parents always gave to charity; it was just part of the family values. My mother’s motto on giving was ‘Think globally, act locally,’ and so that’s what I always used as my guide. And I think giving to Earlham is, in some sense, doing that. I mean, you talk about ‘Let’s have world peace.’ Well, you know, one local way to do that is giving to Earlham. I can’t solve world peace, but if I can help students have an experience that is enriching and broadening and that feeds an understanding of the value of the contributions and gifts that everybody brings to the pie, then that’s my local effort toward peace.”
Like Sherry, you can honor your history with Earlham while supporting our mission and tomorrow’s students. Contact Gail Connerley at 765-983-1439 or gailc@earlham.edu to learn about your giving options.