Kandzie Scholars

About the Kandzie scholars

Springfield, Mass., native "Tess" Frazier Landry graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a major in biology and a minor in neuroscience; she spent two years as a research assistant in cell biology at Harvard Medical School. She also serves on the finance board of the Sharewood free clinic that Tufts medical students operate in Malden.

Miriam Schwarz, from Washington, D.C., was a neuroscience major at Brown University. She spent this past summer in Kenya on a Harold Williams Fellowship carrying out public-health research among HIV-AIDS patients in a small bush town. She is now a student in the joint MD-MPH program here at Tufts.

Tess Landry (left) and Miriam Schwarz

The impact of the scholarship on their lives

Schwarz summed up the impact of the scholarship nicely saying she now will be able to choose the field of practice that engages her most, rather than, by necessity, the one that pays most. By reducing their debt, the half-tuition scholarship frees both of them to, in Schwarz's words, "make a choice that everyone should be able to make: what field of medicine do I really love?"

The importance of scholarship aid

"Scholarship funds are critical to attracting and keeping the most qualified medical students, regardless of background," said Michael Rosenblatt, MD, dean of the School of Medicine. "Starting with our very first class in 1893 in which we enrolled both men and women, our history has been one of inclusion. Our mission is to educate the best and brightest students, not just those from privileged backgrounds. That's why scholarship aid is the highest priority of the Beyond Boundaries campaign."

"I've benefited so enormously from the generosity of people with an interest in supporting students," said Schwarz. "It's extraordinary generosity - the best investment you can ever make."