$30.2 million


Thanks to the generosity of alumni, staff and friends of Palmer College, Daring and Driven has raised an unprecedented $30.2 million for infrastructure, scholarships and endowment.


“Chiropractic was entering an exciting time, and


we had an opportunity to newly engage and energize alumni and the entire campus community,” says Palmer’s Chancellor and CEO, Dennis Marchiori, D.C., Ph.D. (Main, `90). “But the College needed to invest in the infrastructure and the academics, the scholarships and the endowment that would carry us into that future and support that kind of growth and interest.” Palmer was not alone in seeing its own potential to


seize the moment. In July 2017, the College received its largest individual grant from a foundation, a $5 million commitment from the Bechtel Trusts. The Palmer Academic Health Center on Main Campus was renamed the Harold & Marie Bechtel Center — just one of many transformations to come, all driven by the power of philanthropy. “We said, ‘If we don’t use this to inspire people to


give, we’ve missed an opportunity,’” recalls Melbourne. “We had a vision for the future, but we couldn’t do it on our own. We needed alumni and community support.” Six years and a total of $30.2 million later, nobody


can say that Palmer and its generous supporters have let that opportunity pass them by. How did they do it, how have the campaign’s impacts been felt and how will generosity continue to raise the bar for chiropractic?


THAT FIGHTING SPIRIT The success of Daring and Driven would have been impossible without a wide network of support. But the seeds had to be planted close to home. Early on, Melbourne focused on building an alumni and advancement team of skilled professionals who were ready for a challenge and unafraid of thinking beyond


the status quo. The campaign would provide the perfect structure for assembling the talent needed not just to achieve the six-year goal but to serve the College far into the future. One of the first milestones the advancement team


reached was seeing Palmer’s faculty and administrators embrace the campaign’s vision and the generosity that would make it a reality. “Once they understood that our work was really about providing opportunities to our students so they could better serve future patients, they grew in their interest and curiosity about how philanthropy could move the needle and how they could help,” recalls Melbourne. “That creates an energy,” says beloved professor


Virginia Barber, D.C. (Main, `90). “Others outside of campus see that and say, ‘Wow, the people there are invested in this.’” A member of the Founder’s Circle with her partner


and fellow Palmer faculty member Tom Ring, D.C., (Main, `75), Dr. Barber was an early champion of the Daring and Driven campaign. “My view in life is the more you’re blessed, the more you owe,” she explains. “I’ve had an extraordinarily blessed life, and Palmer has given me a lot of that. So, I want to give back and help students.” Sometimes, Dr. Barber laughs, those students are surprised to learn that their instructors and mentors give to the College. “Time and again, they’ll say, ‘I didn’t know you gave! You must really believe in us.’ And I respond, ‘I have one life that I know of, and I’ve chosen to do this with each of you little weasels. If I didn’t believe in you, the joke would be on me.’” Like Dr. Barber, Charlotte Matityahu, D.C. (West, `93), is an alumna who supports students today and patients tomorrow through scholarships. She created the Drs. Svend and Helene Nielsen Memorial Endowed Scholarship in honor of her grandparents, who traveled from Copenhagen to Davenport to study chiropractic in the 1930s. Not only did her grandparents help pave the way for the profession in Europe, but they also trod the footsteps her father and eventually Dr. Matityahu herself would follow.


“I wanted to pay homage to their story and that fighting spirit of chiropractic — and, at the end of the day, help more people become chiropractors,” she says. Dr. Matityahu’s scholarship isn’t awarded on the basis of grades, and she has kept herself out of the selection process. “My giving is not based on control. It’s simply to honor these people who came before me, and I believe in this institution to do the rest.”


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