Internships, case competitions and career exploration trips play a crucial role in shaping the futures of Whitman School students. Through these experiences, students hone their skills and make valuable connections.

Established in fall 2024 by a gift from Douglas ’86 and Susan Present, the Whitman Opportunity Fund ensures that these kinds of opportunities are within reach for all students. The need-based fund covers expenses related to student activities that aren’t normally included in scholarship funding, like living expenses during internships.

There are four general categories under the umbrella of the Whitman Opportunity Fund: internships, student activities, Whitman-sponsored programs and an emergency aid fund that helps students with unforeseen hardships.

“It’s really a unique opportunity fund in a sense that it’s very broad, because that’s the way it’s designed in order to help provide opportunities for students, either to grow, or when they need help,” says Assistant Dean for Advancement and External Engagement Michael Paulus. “It’s really created to show that Whitman’s here to support you.” This support can include everything from interview attire to living expenses for programs like the Whitman Semester in NYC.

During the 2023-24 academic year, the Whitman Internship Opportunity Fund—one of the initiatives supported by the Whitman Opportunity Fund—awarded scholarships to 30 students participating in internships from coast to coast. Students worked in companies such as Amazon, Estée Lauder and KPMG.

“These funds made a tremendous difference for me and the future of my career,” says Michael Haass ’25. “I was lucky enough to intern with Cushman & Wakefield, and it set me off on my commercial real estate career. With these funds I was able to get to and from work every day, buy groceries, make food for myself and so on.”

Elizabeth Rupp

“As a student from Michigan, I never thought I would have the opportunity to work in New York City. Thanks to [the] donation, I got to put it towards my living expenses to have an internship I dreamed of for years.This allowed me to experience new things in a new city,” says Elizabeth Rupp ’25, who interned for PwC.

“The Opportunity Fund is another way for Whitman to differentiate itself and how it supports our students,” says Paulus. “When students want to explore an internship or make themselves better, to set themselves up for networking or jobs, we have the funds in place to do that.”