Analisa Archer ’93, a member of the University of Lynchburg Board of Trustees, has established a fund that will support Lynchburg’s graduate students.
The Graduate Student Support Fund will “support graduate students pursuing a master’s degree and suffering from financial hardships that would not qualify for traditional scholarship funding” and “provides timely, limited, financial assistance to currently enrolled graduate students for outstanding tuition and mandatory fees.”
Students will apply for assistance through the Office of Graduate Success, which is administering the Graduate Student Support Fund.
Archer, who joined the board of trustees this past summer, established the fund with a $25,000 gift that was inspired by Dr. Sally Selden ’19 HAA, the University’s president.
“At our trustee orientation in July, she talked a lot about her priorities for the University and what she was looking at, and it was really focused on recruitment and retention … in both the undergraduate area and in the graduate space,” Archer said.
“She was not concerned, but just watching to make sure we weren’t running into issues where we got people into the program and then something happened, unanticipated, and they weren’t able to finish. So that intrigued me.”
While Selden’s comments piqued her interest, Archer also had heard about the Fox Student Retention Fund, established in 2025 by Julie Doyle, chair of Lynchburg’s board of trustees. The fund provides support to undergraduate students who are facing financial hardships.
Archer later asked Tom Burrowes ’93, ’21 MA, Lynchburg’s senior director of development and alumni relations, if there was a similar fund for graduate students.
When Burrowes told her there wasn’t, Archer said it “would seem a real shame” not to have one. “You’ve gone so, so far,” she said, imagining some graduate student experiences, “and then you’re at the last minute and you just can’t finish.”
Archer describes the Graduate Student Support Fund as a “companion to the Fox Fund” and “a safety net” that ensures graduate-level students who need it will get “just a little extra help to keep them enrolled so they [can] finish.”
Archer, a senior federal executive, graduated from Lynchburg magna cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in English and political science. She was a Westover Honors Fellow and recipient of Lynchburg’s highest academic honor, the Richard Clarke Sommerville Scholar Award.
As an undergraduate, she was president of the Student Activities Board, served on the Student Judicial Board, participated in Model United Nations, and was inducted into Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honor society.
She received the Lynchburg College Service Award, participated in the inaugural Anderson Leadership Conference, and worked in the College’s alumni office. More recently, she has served on Lynchburg’s alumni board and president’s advisory council.
After graduating from Lynchburg, Archer earned a master’s degree in public policy at Johns Hopkins — another experience that influenced her decision to establish the Graduate Student Support Fund.
“After I left Lynchburg, I went to work in Washington and decided I wanted to go back at night and get a master’s from the public policy school at Hopkins in D.C.,” she said. “I got into a little bit of trouble myself, where I just overcommitted on what I thought I could do.
“And my dad helped me out. … It wasn’t a ton of money, but I just needed a little bit more because I had under budgeted. He really just kind of came in and gave me that little extra push, which enabled me to go through and continue the program, which to me at the time was something that was really important.
“So, I would not have been able to have done it. I’m familiar with that feeling of, ‘I’ve come so close and this is the only thing that’s going to keep me from getting this thing that really matters and will help me make more money later in my career.’”
Archer was on campus in October for her first official board of trustees meeting. Asked why she wanted to serve on Lynchburg’s board, she said, “I love Lynchburg,” adding, “As much as things change over the years and new programs are added and the school goes in new directions, the core is always the same, and I’m so thankful that I had the experience I had here.
“I learned to think, I learned to lead. I learned to be independent. I learned to have the confidence to try and fail, and all of those things have served me so well in my career. So anything I can do to support the University, especially at this particular time, where we’ve been in a challenging period, and I feel like we’re really on the cusp of turning a page.”
Archer said she also wants to support Selden’s goals for the University.
“I think President Selden is absolutely amazing,” Archer said. “I want to support her and what she’s trying to do. … I think she is looking for more and more ways to kind of reinvigorate that academic spirit of learning, which is why we are all here.
“So yeah, when I was asked if I would consider joining the board, I was like, ‘Absolutely. There’s no better time.’ I want to be part of the next big evolution of this place, and I’m so confident and energized right now. … It’s been amazing.”
Donors can contribute to the Graduate Student Support fund here.
For more information about how to make a gift to the University, please contact Shawn Wood, associate vice president of advancement, at [email protected] or 434.544.8450.
