Linda Niro ’76 Supports Scholarship with Current Cash Gifts and a Bequest to WP

William Paterson University’s 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Linda Niro ’76 grew up about an hour from campus in Bound Brook. She was the oldest of four, and her mother was not working when Linda started looking at colleges. “I was eligible for the New Jersey State scholarship, which paid tuition and books and required enrollment at a New Jersey college,” she says. “I selected WP when I received the scholarship.”

As a first-generation student and scholarship recipient, Linda says it is important to her to help future generations have access to the same education and experiences she had. To ensure that her scholarship support of WP students continues beyond her lifetime, Linda has made a blended gift combining current cash gifts with a bequest in her will.

“I felt like I could give more in a bequest than with an outright cash gift,” Linda says. “I structured my gift so part of it was cash over multiple years, and then the rest will be made sometime in the future.” Linda enjoys meeting her scholarship recipients. “I receive their letters of appreciation, and I drop them a note. At the last Legacy Gala before COVID I met the first scholarship recipient. It’s nice to be able to see the impact during my lifetime.”

Linda hopes her gift will help make college more affordable and accessible. “I want to ensure that whoever has the financial need and ability to go to college can stay in college and get their degree, get a great job, and have a great future.”

After earning her degree in education, Linda enjoyed a 41-year career in banking. She became a loyal donor a few years after graduation and was recruited to join the University’s Foundation Board. She later joined the University’s Board of Trustees and for several years served as chair of the finance committee of both boards. Currently, Linda is the chair of the Foundation’s finance committee.

Linda encourages others to consider the legacies they could leave to support WP’s future. “Scholarships mean students don’t have to work two or three jobs, and they don’t have loans that are so large when they graduate that it crushes them,” she concludes. “I think gifting for scholarships is the best thing you can do. I really think we all have an obligation to give back.”