Scholarships

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The Linda S. Campanella Scholarship

The Ng Brothers Scholarship

The Thomas F. Freeman Scholarship

The Birmingham Drummond Scholarship

The Davida Foy Crabtree Scholarship

The Linda S. Campanella Scholarship

The servant of Christ gives without counting the cost. The servant leader gives as though their organization, and every person in it, might themselves be Christ. Linda Sachsse Campanella is a model of Christian servanthood and servant leadership. 
 
For 11 years, Linda served the Andover Newton Board of Trustees with wisdom and faithfulness. For the last four, a season of dramatic change for the historic theological school, she has served as chair. Linda is also a faithful member of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church. She and her husband Joe raised their three adult children in the church, and Linda held key leadership roles, including that of Moderator. 
 
Linda is a management consultant serving the nonprofit and higher education sectors who supports organizations in strategic planning, governance, marketing, and fundraising. She is the owner and principal of SOS Consulting Group, LLC. Before launching her consulting practice, Linda was a senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Trinity College in Hartford, CT; this following many years in the private sector. 
 
Linda wrote the award-winning memoir When All That’s Left of Me is Love: A Daughter’s Story of Letting Go about walking with her mother through life’s final stages. She is a passionate advocate for compassionate end-of-life care and values creating supportive environments for conversations about death and dying.
 
Among her many commitments to service, Linda has significant knowledge and excitement for fundraising. She was the founding chair of the Andover Newton board’s Development and Outreach Committee, and for more than a decade she proposed and supported measures that professionalized the school’s approach to fundraising. As she was rotating out of the role of Chair of Andover Newton’s board, staff and trustees were pleased to announce the creation of an endowed scholarship in Linda’s name. 
 
Through this Linda S. Campanella Scholarship, an Andover Newton at YDS student will receive funding each year, along with a letter telling them that they have received a financial benefit named for Linda. They will already have reaped the benefits of Linda’s leadership by virtue of the fact they are receiving a world-class education in ministerial leadership through Andover Newton at Yale. 
 

Giving to The Linda S. Campanella Scholarship: 

A contribution can be made to these funds by…

Don’t see an option that works for you? Call or email Ned Allyn Parker with questions (ned.parker@yale.edu; 203-464-2287). 

Please note that the automatic response you will receive when your gift is made is your official tax receipt, which will come from Yale University. Once your gift is processed, you will receive a formal note of gratitude from Andover Newton. 

The Ng Brothers Scholarship

“Andover Newton provided me with a solid seminary education that prepared me to serve God in the local church and in denominational ministries. I learned to be a critical thinker and a more faithful disciple to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world.”

~ Rev. Don Ng (ANTS MDiv ‘75; current trustee)                                           

The Rev. Don Ng grew up in Boston, born between his two brothers Philip and Steven. They were members of the First Baptist Church of Boston (the very same church that helped found Newton Theological Institute in 1825), where they attended Sunday school and became active in the high school youth group. Don and his brothers were the first generation of his family to attend college. Philip and Steven were pursuing higher education when each of them died suddenly in their twenties. 

We recognize and thank First Baptist Church of Boston, who gave the lead gift that makes fundraising for this scholarship possible. 

Don experienced his initial call to ministry at First Baptist, but it was at Andover Newton Theological School that he acquired his theological education. After graduating from Andover Newton in 1975, Don ministered to Chinese-American Baptists in San Francisco. His ministry to build communities where all can worship in the fullness of their identity reflects Andover Newton’s core values and commitment to developing Christian ministries of justice and beloved community. 
 
In 1978, Don was called to American Baptist Educational Ministries in Valley Forge in the areas of youth ministry, Christian education, leadership development, planning and curriculum development. After 20 years, he was called back to San Francisco to be the senior pastor of the First Chinese Baptist where after 17 years, he retired and is now continuing to serve as a volunteer in denominational life and ministries.
 

Honoring the Ng Brothers

This scholarship will honor the work of Reverend Ng, minister, national leader, and former President of the American Baptist Churches, USA and to continue to memorialize his three brothers Philip, Steven and Richard Ng. It will recognize the alumni/ae of our past, sustain the students of our present, and inspire the ministers of our future. With this scholarship, Andover Newton also hopes to honor the extraordinary work of our Asian American and Pacific Islander graduates, and to support the work of incoming AAPI students. 
 

Rev. Ng’s ministry and legacy have been formed by the lives of all his brothers. Philip, Steven and Don were born and raised in Boston after their parents, Joseph Ng and Lee Ng immigrated from China with their oldest son, Richard Ng. Don and his brothers were the first generation of their family to have the opportunity to go to college. Philip was studying political science at American University and Steven, after graduating from New York University, was studying law at Fordham University. Don’s oldest brother, Richard, worked to support the family, always wishing he had the opportunity to complete his education in America. Richard was a proud brother and loving husband, father, and uncle, who encouraged his family in the importance of education. Rev. Ng received his Master of Divinity at Andover Newton with the financial support from the school that gave him space for his leadership to thrive.
 
In 1967, First Baptist Church of Boston began a scholarship fund in memory of Steven and Philip and their experiences growing up within the congregation. The fund previously contributed to seminarians in Boston, but will now be rooted at Andover Newton Seminary at YDS. The move of this fund recognizes Reverend Ng’s love for Andover Newton, our commitment in developing excellent ministers, and the opportunity to grow our scholarships for incoming students. 
 
The lives of all four Ng brothers echo the mission of Andover Newton Seminary to educate inspiring leaders for faith communities. Deeply rooted in Christian faith, and radically open to what God is doing now, an endowed scholarship in the name of the Ng Brothers will allow our seminary to deepen the impact of our partnership with Yale Divinity School. 
 

The Impact of Rev. Don Ng

After graduating from Andover Newton, Rev. Ng sought roles in ministry that allowed him to live into his call to create the “peaceable kingdom” as imagined by Isaiah 40. In community, Don says, we experience a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Andover Newton Seminary brings this vision together across many tables of worship: whether students are UCC, UU, ABC, or DOC, we share bread across denominations. Proximity to each other brings us nearer, too, to the beloved community that Rev. Ng has cultivated in his ministry. Seminarians learn from each other when they view ecumenical work as the place where ministry can be nourished… and shared in nourishing. Rev. Ng continues to profess these convictions learned from Andover Newton’s incarnational theology, where we must learn to tend to each other by learning who we are to each other.
 
Through Reverend Ng’s legacy as a church and denominational leader, his mentorship of young ministers, and his work on behalf of Andover Newton as a Trustee, we are inspired to mirror in this scholarship his service in the world. Building excellent ministers at Andover Newton means seminarians of all identities learn from each other and thrive as congregational or community leaders. 
 
Join us in honoring the lives, work and faith of Don Ng and his brothers, and the extraordinary work of our Asian American and Pacific Islander graduates. Your gift will contribute to seminarians who seek the rigor and excellence of the Yale classroom, and hunger for the congregational and ministerial fellowship formed in the Andover Newton community.
 

Sustaining This Scholarship 

Andover Newton Seminary has set a goal to raise $50,000 dollars to sustain this scholarship for future students. Endowed scholarships enable Andover Newton at Yale Divinity School to attract outstanding aspiring congregational ministers to the seminary program with competitive financial aid offers. Over 90% of current students receive financial aid in some form, and a gift to this scholarship will bring us closer to our shared goal of meeting all demonstrated need by 2023.
 
An endowed scholarship expands access to seminary for students who have made financial sacrifices to attend the three-year degree program, and allows them to more fully embrace their seminary experience with additional financial support.
 

Watch a video of the announcement of the Ng Brothers Scholarship from Andover Newton’s Alumni/ae Convocation 2021:

 

Giving to The Ng Brothers Scholarship

A contribution can be made to these funds by…

Don’t see an option that works for you? Call or email Ned Allyn Parker with questions (ned.parker@yale.edu; 203-464-2287). 

Please note that the automatic response you will receive when your gift is made is your official tax receipt, which will come from Yale University. Once your gift is processed, you will receive a formal note of gratitude from Andover Newton. 

The Thomas F. Freeman Scholarship

Thomas Franklin Freeman graduated from Andover Newton in 1942. Freeman earned the Chip Scholarship – the award given for the highest academic honors – all three years of his studies. In fact, Freeman received either an A or an A+ in every class he took at Andover Newton except one. His lowest grade was a B+ in Public Speaking and Christian Preaching. Years later, a student of Freeman’s explained that Freeman loved to tell the story of the seminary professor who gave him the lowest grade he received in graduate school.
 
“Why did he give you a B+?” his students asked. 
 
“Because he thought my mustache was distracting!” Freeman answered with a wry smile and a twinkle in his eye. Even more surprising than the grade was the class that he earned it in. Freeman would go on to become one of the world’s top coaches in public speaking and forensics, the art of competitive debate.
 
As difficult as it is to imagine what it was like to be an African-American student at Andover Newton in such a small minority, and amidst such obstacles and stacked odds, Freeman went to his grave considering Andover Newton to be among the formative communities of his life and ministry. In 1992 – a half century after his graduation from Andover Newton – Rev. Dr. Thomas Franklin Freeman returned to the school to preach in Colby Chapel during Black History Month. The title of his sermon was “The Black Church: God’s Gift to Us.” 
 
Rev. Dr. Freeman died on Saturday, June 6, 2020 - just weeks before his 101st birthday. During his illustrious career, he served as a pastor, a professor, a coach, a husband, and a father. At Texas Southern University, the historically Black college where Freeman taught and coached for more than six decades, he was honored as Founding Dean of his discipline and had an honors school named after him. 
 
Because of Freeman’s achievements, his love for Andover Newton, and his lifelong commitment to educating and empowering young Black women and men, the Andover Newton Seminary Board of Trustees has designated funds to create an endowed scholarship in Freeman’s name. The trustees and staff of Andover Newton have made it a goal of raising at least $250,000, at which point the scholarship can be awarded annually with a preference for a student experiencing a call to leadership in historically Black congregations.
 
Rev. Dr. Freeman left a legacy to be sure. He taught a young Martin Luther King, Jr. at Morehouse College and soon-to-be state representative Barbara Jordan at Texas Southern University. He was hand-picked by award-winning film star Denzel Washington to coach the actors in “The Great Debaters” – a film nominated for best picture at the Golden Globes. For Dr. Freeman, education was ministry and ministry was education. The two were inextricably linked, and he dazzled in the pulpit and at the podium.
 
Andover Newton, along with Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School, has made scholarships a top priority for fundraising. We want students to enter ministry unencumbered by graduate school debt and to be able to make their career decisions based on sacred call.
 
Andover Newton Seminary invites our individual and community partners to join us in addressing this priority, recognizing the impact it will make on clergy and the congregations in which they serve. Seminary debt is a crisis we must overcome, and we can only do it with our faithful companions who have journeyed with us through so much.
 
This is a critical moment where pandemic, anti-black racism, and financial distress have collided to form a perfect storm. The world is suffering and we will need compassionate clergy to step into the fray and heal the rifts made visible during this tempest. Who better to lead in the days that will follow than a graduate of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School? We need your help to make it happen. We need your help to make it possible. 
 
We need your help to provide healers to a broken world.
 

Spirit of the Hill Award 

Watch a video of Rev. Dr. Freeman’s daughter, Dr. Carlotta Freeman, receiving the award on his behalf. This video also includes a word from Board Chair Linda Campanella, who explains why the board decided to create a scholarship and matching fund challenge, as well as a powerful testimony from 2nd year MDiv student, Jyrekis Collins, about the transformational nature of scholarships.

Giving to The Thomas F. Freeman Scholarship

A contribution can be made to these funds by…

Don’t see an option that works for you? Call or email Ned Allyn Parker with questions (ned.parker@yale.edu; 203-464-2287)

Please note that the automatic response you will receive when your gift is made is your official tax receipt, which will come from Yale University. Once your gift is processed, you will receive a formal note of gratitude from Andover Newton. 

The Birmingham Drummond Scholarship

In honor of the schools’ first woman leader in its 215-year history, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School has created an endowed scholarship to fund tuition for Andover Newton students at YDS who identify as women and who are called to serve faith communities. The scholarship is named for Sarah Birmingham Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton, ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and educator in and writer on ministerial leadership.
 
The initial announcement about this scholarship added Andover Newton Seminary’s voice to Yale University’s celebration of two anniversaries: the 50th anniversary of coeducation in Yale College and the 150th anniversary of women students at the university. A number of events in 2019 and 2020 showcased the depth of women’s contributions to the world, celebrated women at the university, and inspired thoughtful conversation about the future of women at Yale and in larger society.
 
Drummond began her service to Andover Newton in 2005, teaching courses on ministry and directing Andover Newton’s historic field education program. She was elected dean in 2011, and was one of the five members of the Andover Newton faculty participating in the 2016-17 “visiting year” that preceded affiliation. She subsequently led the process of developing an innovative diploma program and building a new expression of Andover Newton as an embedded seminary at YDS. She is Andover Newton Seminary’s founding dean and the first woman to lead Andover Newton in its 215-year history.
 
A graduate of Yale College, where she was a Deacon in Battell Chapel, served on the Yale President’s Council Committee on Religion (2003-2004), and now serves as a Fellow in Saybrook College, Drummond earned her Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School and served Harvard as both assistant dean of freshmen and chaplain for religious education at Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. She then was called as executive director and campus minister for University Christian Ministries at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she also later earned her Ph.D. in urban education.
 

Giving to The Birmingham Drummond Scholarship

A contribution can be made to these funds by…

Don’t see an option that works for you? Call or email Ned Allyn Parker with questions (ned.parker@yale.edu; 203-464-2287)

Please note that the automatic response you will receive when your gift is made is your official tax receipt, which will come from Yale University. Once your gift is processed, you will receive a formal note of gratitude from Andover Newton. 

“My first year as a student in Yale College was the 20th year of women at Yale. The women I came to know at Yale are bedrock to my sense of hope for the women of today and tomorrow, and yet I don’t think I could have predicted 30 years ago that so many obstacles would still exist for women seeking to enter leadership. Some of those obstacles are invisible, and some are obvious. We want to widen the path for future ministerial leaders who identify as women. Providing support to these candidates will both encourage women to seek a Master of Divinity and ultimately engender more female role models for all future women religious leaders.” Sarah B. Drummond

The Davida Foy Crabtree Scholarship

The Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree was not aware that her mother had created a scholarship in her honor until her mother’s death. “If my mother had had any idea a woman could be ordained, she would have gone to seminary herself. She was always working to build up the church,
and to improve public education and her community,” Crabtree said. 
 
Though Davida’s mother designated the testamentary gift with a preference for women studying to be UCC ministers, Davida, Andover Newton Seminary (ANS), and Yale Divinity School (YDS) encourage donors to give to endowment supporting all women in ministry. As Crabtree said, “I welcome women from all kinds of backgrounds and interests into ministry because that is what strengthens the church. Anything we can do to release women’s talent to focus on ministry, instead of having to repay debt, will benefit the wider church.”
 
United Church of Christ (UCC) minister Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree has provided extraordinary service to the UCC and ANS. Most recently, she was Interim Vice President for Advancement at Andover Newton Theological School. Prior positions include serving as Interim and Acting Conference Minister in Florida and Missouri Mid-South Conferences, and as Conference Minister for Connecticut and Southern California. She also served as Senior Consultant to the Collegium of Officers of the UCC and as a local church pastor in Connecticut.
 
The one honored by the scholarship meets the 2021 scholarship recipient! In this image, the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree meets the 2021 DFC Scholar Julia Center (2nd year YDS MDiv and AND Diploma student). A wonderful and meaningful encounter…
 

 

Giving to The Davida Foy Crabtree Scholarship

A contribution can be made to these funds by…

Don’t see an option that works for you? Call or email Ned Allyn Parker with questions (ned.parker@yale.edu; 203-464-2287)

Please note that the automatic response you will receive when your gift is made is your official tax receipt, which will come from Yale University. Once your gift is processed, you will receive a formal note of gratitude from Andover Newton.