Part of the Solution

13 May 2015

Davis.jpgIn some ways, Stephen Davis ’88 couldn’t have chosen a college that was more different from his high school than Carleton. But the Chicago native, who attended a sprawling southside high school with more than 3,000 students, found Carleton’s small-town setting, intimate class sizes, and deeply engaged professors to be just what he needed.

“The students and professors are talented enough that they could go almost anywhere they wanted,” he says. “But they choose Carleton for a reason: it’s a place that’s focused on teaching and learning. It’s not a cookie-cutter education.”

As a student, Davis dove deep into the academic waters, absorbing lessons from economics professors Martha Paas, Mark Kanazawa, and Scott Bierman. Those lessons that taught him to think independently also served him well in law school and business school. He adds that Carleton has been foundational for his success in the field of private equity, including his current role as a partner at Banneker Partners.

But as he looked back at his own experience, he saw ways that the school could get better—and thanks to his financial success, he knew he could help. “Carleton has a fairly diverse student body compared to other liberal arts schools in the Midwest,” he says. “But I’d love to see it do even better, particularly with regard to African-Americans,” he says.

To that end, he and his wife, Jill Cowan Davis; and his brother, Christopher ’89, and his wife, Jennifer; created the Carrie and James Davis scholarship. The endowed fund, named for Davis’s parents, supports African-American students with financial need.

For Davis, the scholarship represents part of his larger philosophy about creating positive change in the world. “It’s not enough simply to say ‘Carleton has to do better,’ ” he says. “To make change, you’ve got to get involved. You can help people have not just a similar experience, but a better experience.”

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