Getting to campus is only the beginning.
That’s the driving idea behind a $500,000 gift from the Russell Berrie Foundation to
Ramapo College of New Jersey — money targeted not at recruiting first-generation
students, but at keeping them enrolled long enough to graduate.
The investment will strengthen programs and services at Ramapo’s First-Generation
Student Center, including academic support, mentorship, engagement opportunities,
and scholarships for currently enrolled students.
First-generation students enroll in college at increasing rates nationally, but face
disproportionate barriers to finishing — financial strain, limited support networks and the often-invisible challenge of navigating systems that their families have never
encountered.
“At Ramapo, we know that access to higher education is only the beginning,” President
Cindy Jebb said. “This tremendously generous gift from the Russell Berrie Foundation
strengthens our ability to support first-generation students as they persist toward
graduation and prepare for meaningful futures beyond Ramapo.”
Ramapo’s First-Generation Student Center was established in 2022. Since then,
enrollment by students who identify as first-generation has increased 55%. The center
expanded during the summer of 2025 and held a ribbon-cutting in November during
National First-Generation Student Celebration Month.
The college has also earned national recognition from U.S. News & World Report for
social mobility.
The gift deepens a partnership between Ramapo and the Russell Berrie Foundation
that spans more than three decades, including support for the construction of the
Angelica & Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts and the Russell Berrie
Nursing Scholarship.
The foundation also ran the Russ Berrie Making a Difference Awards for 30 years,
concluding this year with a focus on Gen Z leaders.
Idana Goldberg, CEO of the Russell Berrie Foundation, said the gift reflects a core
principle of the foundation’s mission.
“The Russell Berrie Foundation is proud of our decades-long partnership with Ramapo
College and pleased to support its growing commitment to first-generation students,”
she said. “Russ Berrie believed deeply in the ability of one person to make a difference,
and this investment in student success reflects both that legacy and a core
value: that education is a powerful way to honor and expand human potential.”
