Collectively, your St. Olaf Fund gifts direct more than $1.5 million to financial aid each year, helping students access and excel in St. Olaf’s liberal arts learning community.

“College is expensive and is getting more so,” says David Antwi ’19. “Increasing financial aid expands the viewpoints St. Olaf can bring to campus, giving us all opportunities to see and discover more.”

As a junior counselor in Ellingson Hall, Antwi works to ensure his residents, all first-year students, feel welcome and comfortable in their St. Olaf home.

“In Ghana, ‘family’ means not just your parents and siblings, but your community too,” says Antwi. “The more educated we become, the greater our openness to new things can grow. The St. Olaf Fund gives people opportunities to do things they wouldn’t have imagined they could do.”

“We’re known as the social floor because so many hang out here,” says Antwi. Karaoke nights help make connections and many, like Antwi, are also in The Great Conversation Program. “There’s this whole air of friendship,” he says. “You value your classmates because of their varied perspectives.”

Antwi is grateful for his St. Olaf financial aid and education. He grew up in Ghana, where schools tracked students more narrowly into vocations. On the Hill, Antwi majors in French and political science and participates in student Christian and cultural organizations, international study, and the Chapel and Gospel Choirs.