Paying It Forward

Inspired by those who helped them, alumni couple pays it forward with scholarship gifts.

When they were students, both Bill and Maryrose McInerney, B.A., 1977 and 1978, respectively, benefitted from the generosity of donors. Now, they are returning the favor by helping other Cardinals.

Bill vividly remembers the answer from a high-ranking University administrator when he asked why he was chosen to receive a scholarship — “We give scholarships to people like you because we know you will pay us back many times over.”

Bill is a University Trustee and Maryrose is a member of the Board of Visitors for the School of Arts and Sciences. The couple has made supporting scholarships a priority for the last decade.

“We were both able to earn excellent educations at Catholic University that provided us with the foundation to have productive and successful professional careers,” Maryrose said. “We established the McInerney Impact Scholarships 10 years ago because it became our time to pay it back so more students could pay it forward.

“We also wanted recipients to be students committed to social action and engaged in social justice.”

— Maryrose McInerney

The choice to help students who are inspired to make social change honors Maryrose’s mother, who passed away while Maryrose was a sophomore at the University.

At the recent Scholarship Dinner, the McInerneys met their current scholarship recipient, Alex Brooks, a sophomore biology major and an officer with the She’s the First club on campus which sponsors education for girls in low-income countries.

“The scholarship is giving me the chance to pursue what I’m passionate about and continue my educational goals,” Brooks said.