Support that Changes Lives
The Weiland Welcome Grant gives students independence, dignity, and the chance to start strong
Nearly 65 years separate Abcedy Carson ’28 and Nancy Greer Weiland ’65, yet their stories as first-year students have parallels. As young women, both came to Colby on full scholarships but with almost no extra money for textbooks or other expenses.
Weiland struggled in 1961, using her sewing machine to earn money mending students’ clothes and making costumes for ice skaters. Carson, alternatively, has had an easier start—thanks to Weiland and her husband, Andrew Weiland ’64.
Carson is a recipient of a $1,250 Weiland Welcome Grant. Established in 2022, the grant is given to first-year students from lower-income families to help them transition to college. Granted thus far to 341 students, it is a simple but transformative gift borne from insight and generosity that sets students up for success from day one.
“It’s a huge relief, especially coming from a family where you didn’t have a safety net,” said Carson, a first-generation QuestBridge Scholar from Phoenix, Ariz. “This allows me to breathe a little bit better.”
Nancy Weiland never forgot the hardships of her first years on campus. When she and her husband decided to give back to Colby in their retirement, she came up with the idea of the welcome grant. “A grant would have made my life easier, so I’m happy that it makes other students’ lives a little easier,” said the trustee emerita.
Her husband agreed. “This helps students with limited income adjust and adapt to life at Colby.”
Carson initially hesitated to be publicly identified as a Weiland Welcome Grant recipient, wanting to avoid labels associated with low-income students. Upon reflection, she realized her hesitation was a sign she should speak out. She has nothing to be ashamed of.
“It’s important that stigmas be removed from that label,” she said, and the Weiland Welcome Grant is a step toward a new narrative. Her personal story shouldn’t be hidden. “At the end of the day, it’s my background. It’s where I’m from,” she said. “It’s what made me who I am.”
Basic needs, and more
The Weiland Welcome Grant changes student experiences right from the beginning, said Jillian Duquaine-Watson, class dean for first-year students and programs. Split into two disbursements—one at the beginning of each semester—the grant gives students the ability to address their needs, which are often unexpected or unforeseen.
“When they’re coming to college, they imagine certain things they need. They can’t see the rest,” said Duquaine-Watson. Students may underestimate the cost of textbooks, need specific supplies for a class, or require a refrigerator in their room for dietary reasons. Students traveling long distances must purchase necessities when they arrive in Waterville.
Carson, who was raised by her single, disabled mother and grandmother, was fortunate that her aunt and uncle traveled with her to Waterville and helped her settle. Her exceptional academic performance in high school won her a Gates Foundation Scholarship, which covered other expenses, textbooks, and fees.
Once the semester got underway, however, Carson relied entirely on her Weiland Welcome Grant.
That means she could shop for personal care products and not feel anxiety. “I’ve had financial stress since I was a kid,” she said. “To not worry where I’m going to find the funds to buy natural hair care products has been a relief.”
Stories of what students purchase with their Weiland Welcome Grant are as varied as Colby’s global student population. From her office, decorated with inspirational quotes, soft lighting, and children’s artwork, Duquaine-Watson recounted a few that stood out.
The Weiland Welcome Grant provides ongoing support that promotes students’ adjustment to college and also “helps set them up so that academically they can stay focused and engaged.”
Jillian Duquaine-Watson, Class Dean for First-Year Students and Programs.
She told of a student realizing they needed laundry detergent for the machines, having previously only washed their clothes by hand. And another who purchased their first backpack. “For them, buying a backpack was this moment in their life,” she said. “They couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.”
Carson added another story. During her first week on campus, she met an international student who needed a blanket, so she bought him one. “I used what I was given to try to help others,” said Carson, embodying the Weilands’ spirit.
Academic payoff
While the Weiland Welcome Grant helps students with material needs, it also eases financial stress, which has an effect in the classroom.
“When students are worried about finances, their academic performance is impacted,” said Duquaine-Watson. “The grants provide some ongoing support that helps promote not only their adjustment to college, but also helps set them up so that academically they can stay focused and engaged.”
Academics are a high priority for Daniel Amoah ’27, who dreams of becoming a doctor. When he arrived from Ghana in 2023, he had about $200, which he used for basic necessities. Another funding source paid for his textbooks. He wasn’t sure what he needed the Weiland Grant for until classes started.
“When a professor spoke, I couldn’t get it straight away. Because of the accent and everything, I didn’t get it very quickly,” said Amoah, who studied in English throughout his education in Ghana.
He started recording lectures on his phone and listening to them in the evenings. “It was so stressful,” said Amoah, who listened to lectures repeatedly before grasping the material. When he noticed other students using iPads with apps that made studying and participation in class more efficient, he tapped into his Weiland Grant to buy the technology.
Now in his sophomore year and still using his iPad, he’s thriving as a psychology major concentrating in neuroscience.
“I can’t even get the words for it, but I feel okay right now because my academics are going well,” he said. “I’m comfortable, and I’m surviving. All because of that little iPad I bought.”
Dignity in independence
Part of the beauty of the Weiland Welcome Grant is the independence it gives students. Recipients do not need to ask to access it or to justify their purchases. The approach makes sense to Duquaine-Watson.
“It’s about treating them as adults,” she said. “This is something that has been determined they’re entitled to. We should trust students to make choices in their best interest.” She said that having their own money allows students to learn how to manage their day-to-day lives, which many have not done before.
That includes not needing help from their parents.
“For me, the main thing was not worrying my mom by asking for money,” said Monserrat Villagomez ’28, from Salinas, in California’s Central Valley. The Weiland Welcome Grant relieves as much financial stress for her mother as it does for her.
Villagomez and her mother are close. It’s just the two of them since her father passed away when she was 7. She thought she would attend community college in Salinas, but her perspective changed when she was awarded a QuestBridge Scholarship.
“It made me believe I could do something,” she said.
Villagomez and her mother weren’t sure how they could afford a plane ticket from California to the East Coast. But their worries were eliminated when she was awarded a Weiland Welcome Grant. Once she was on campus, she had enough grant money left to buy snacks and personal items for her room—without asking for help.
“It’s like, ‘Don’t worry, Mom. I’ve got a grant. It’s fine,’” she said. “I’ve got this.”
Expressing gratitude, giving back
The Weiland Welcome Grant is the kind of support that changes people’s lives, emphasized Duquaine-Watson. She has worked at other institutions but never witnessed the comprehensive support Colby gives to students. “When we can do things as a community to alleviate stressors and burdens for our students that allow them to do what we know they’re capable of doing academically, that’s amazing to me,” she said.
Villagomez wants to be a teacher and recently declared a double major in Latin American studies and education. She is passionate about leadership and empowering minority students. Her message to the Weilands is clear: she will give back.
“I just want to tell them that supporting me is like supporting someone else in the future,” she said. “I’m going to make sure that I help someone else.”
Carson plans to stretch out her Weiland Grant funds as long as possible while majoring in biology to pursue her interest in forensic science. She harbors a sense of gratefulness, in part because she feels the Weilands see her as a real person, not a cause.
“You’re a person with dreams and goals and aspirations,” said Carson. “To have somebody in a similar position, who has similar alignments, and sees students as individuals is refreshing and humanizing.”
Amoah turned to a saying in Twi, his native Ghanaian dialect, to express his gratitude to the Weilands.
“Let’s say you picked money from this bucket to give me,” he said, gesturing to an imaginary pot. “That bucket should get filled. Wherever that amount came from, whatever they lost giving that amount to me, they should get in multiples,” he said. “God should bless them.”
