Bill Deck, Class of 1964, on Nov 2nd posted on the GMSAA Facebook Group the following important question. I promised him a response from Perry and myself..

“It is with mixed emotions that I put down my thoughts. As my wife likes to remind me, we are much like the Shakers with no one coming in behind us to carry on. There has always been a push to leave a lasting legacy. Starting with the GMS leadership courses and then moving to the GMS scholarships. At the time, I was not in favor of the change of course, but now I believe we made the right choice to switch to the scholarships.

I am reminded of the Dylan Thomas poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” With the last reunion and dissolution of the association coming up next year, I’m afraid we are going gently into the night. Unless the board makes some hard decisions in the next year, many of us will outlive our legacy. My question for the board is do we want to provide high dollar scholarships that will die out in 10 to 15 years or do we want to base our financial aid to reflect what will allow the fund to continue for generations to come. Might I suggest that 75% of the earnings of the fund be made available each year for scholarships and 25% be retained by the fund to maintain the viability of the fund.
As we “rage against the dying of the light” there is one scant year to get things right.

—Bill Deck”

Bill,
Thank you for your comments regarding the Leadership Scholarship. Rest assured that we are quite aware of the Scholarship’s overall financial position to include anticipated disbursements. We have an integrated model that includes expected portfolio returns which considers interest and dividends as well price appreciation, management fees, and inflationary adjustments to the awards. The Leadership Scholarship Fund will receive the residual from the Museum Fund and a portion of the residual from the Life Membership Fund (probably a total of about $125,000). The current scholarship amounts will be adjusted to an appropriate level by reducing the annual amount or the number of years awarded (or a combination of the two). From the outset, we knew that the awards would have to be flexible. The goal has always been to make the Scholarship fully funded. The Scholarship agreement we have with the GGV Community Foundation includes a Scholarship Committee, the composition of which can carry on in perpetuity, that is charged with ensuring that the considerations and requirements for evaluating student applications are followed. This Committee has the authority to adjust the scholarship disbursements should additional adjustments be needed after we are all gone.

With respect, Mike Ruth and Perry Woodside

PS: The Association will not end next year. It is scheduled to cease operation by Dec. 2026.