Fulfilling Promise

As a first-generation college student from a low-income family, Bill Tweed ’70 knows how difficult it can be to obtain a college degree when money is tight. During his time at UD, he scraped together funds for school by working two jobs in the summer, taking on loans, applying for grants — and received help from others along the way.

“I’m thankful for the support I received. Now I want to pay all that back as much as I can, especially for students who don’t have the ability to pay the high cost of college today,” he said.

And pay it back he did. Bill and his wife, Jan, committed $1.5 million to the Flyer Promise Scholars program through the Tweed Family Foundation, setting up an endowment for sustained effect. “I think the impact of this program is going to be far greater than any of us can imagine,” he said.

Bill had a chance to come to campus and meet some of the scholars he is assisting — and was able to relate to some of their experiences. “Before this program, these students were continually told they couldn’t and they wouldn’t — they faced long odds and difficult circumstances. I went through the same thing when I was young. I was told I couldn’t.”

Through the Flyer Promise program, the Tweeds and other donors have dramatically tipped the odds in favor of Juan Villegas ’21 and 89 other students on campus. These students can now say with great confidence, “I can.”