An anonymous alumna and her husband have made a $7,000 challenge gift to encourage others to give to the Dr. Patricia Aronson Scholarship during the University of Lynchburg’s annual GiveDay event on Thursday, April 18. If the fund receives 15 donors on GiveDay, the full $7,000 will be unlocked.
In 2020, a previous gift from the couple was split evenly between the Lynchburg Crisis Response Fund and a new, unnamed scholarship intended to support athletic training. The latter was eventually named for Dr. Pat Aronson, a longtime athletics training professor at the University of Lynchburg.
The scholarship “provides support to students in the Master of Science in Athletic Training program who demonstrate financial need, with preference given to those in their second year of study.”
According to Tom Burrowes ’93, ’21 MA, senior director of alumni and external engagement at Lynchburg, about 20 other donors also have made gifts in support of the Dr. Patricia Aronson Scholarship prior to GiveDay.
He added that the donor “gave up their ownership” of the scholarship, so “[Aronson] has all the decision-making, in terms of if she wants to make any changes.”
Gifts to the Dr. Patricia Aronson Scholarship can be made here.
On Saturday, April 20, Aronson will be named an honorary alumna of the University. The Honorary Alumni Award will be bestowed upon her during the annual Alumni Awards and Westover Society Dinner.
The event is part of the University’s inaugural Founders Week celebration, held April 16-21.
The Honorary Alumni Award, presented since 1986, honors non-alumni of Lynchburg for exceptional interest, dedication, and/or service to Lynchburg. Faculty members nominate recipients and then the University’s alumni board votes on who will receive the honor.
Aronson, who has been at Lynchburg since 1988, was nominated for the award by Dr. Emily Evans ’19 EdD, a colleague and assistant professor of athletic training.
Evans described Aronson as a “mentor to myself and countless other employees and students” and added, “She is simply amazing and we have been lucky to have her in the athletic training program all this time.”
Over the past three decades, Aronson has received numerous awards. Among others, she was named the Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association 2022 Educator of the Year. In 2021, she won the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s LGBTQ+ Award for Inclusive Excellence.
She has been inducted into the hall or wall of fame by numerous organizations, including Genesee Valley Central School, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the District III Mid-Atlantic Trainers’ Association, the Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association, and more.
Aronson also advocates for inclusivity in athletic training through her publications, presentations, and her work as an instructor for Safe Space Ally Training workshops.
“She has taught this workshop to multiple organizations and groups on campus since becoming an instructor and feels that it’s her duty to help her colleagues and the students at Lynchburg become allies and advocates for minority groups,” Evans wrote in her nomination.
To give to the Dr. Patricia Aronson Scholarship and for other giving opportunities, visit the GiveDay webpage.
Note: There is no application process for scholarships; rather, the financial aid office awards scholarships to qualified students based on a fund’s criteria.
