How a Yellow Pen Changed Evan Davis's Path

Who could have known that recent graduate Evan Davis’ (c/o 2021, MBA 2022) decision to attend Widener University would come down to a yellow pen?

“Part of our high school requirements was to attend a certain number of college visits where guests would come and promote the school,” said Davis. “Eventually I developed this weird criterion of judging schools based on the promotional materials they gave out, like ‘is the pen nice quality?’ Widener gave out yellow pens, my favorite color, and earned a lot of bonus points in my mind,” he laughed.

Not one to base his educational future solely on high quality writing materials, Davis was drawn to the fact that Widener was the only university in close proximity that offered creative writing and marketing as a double major. He also learned about the analytics program at the business school, which offered a more valuable context to creatively express himself. After touring the campus once, Widener became the only school he applied to and never looked back.

“I really appreciate all of the support I received at Widener from my teachers and other people that supported my loftier goals of wanting to pursue the double major,” said Davis. “Because Widener gave me a lot of opportunity, I do what I can to help other people get those opportunities as well.”

As a student, Davis participated in peer mentoring to guide younger students through their college experience and help them take advantage of every opportunity available. As a graduate, his desire to pay it forward continues.

“Giving to Widener deeply resonates with me because I look back on all the alumni that took time and effort out of their day to give back and I want to do the same,” he said. “Financial gifts help students expand into different opportunities. For example, the School of Business is currently raising money to pay for student fees for them to take their CPA exams. It was so easy for me to donate to that because that helps real world students with career readiness which grows the pride to be even better than the last generation.”

At Widener, we gratefully rely on our strong alumni network for their gifts of both time and financial contributions that provide scholarships and mentorship opportunities to our students. As we look to close our financial year on June 30, we invite you follow Evan’s example by investing in student success.

You can visit http://give.widener.edu/givepride to make your gift today and put more students on a path to success just like Evan's.