Every year, the Abbot Academy Fund continues Abbot Academy’s values of boldness, innovation, and caring by granting financial support to projects led by Andover faculty and students. Established in 1973 following the Andover-Abbot merger, the Abbot Academy Fund has, for the past 50 years, considered proposals seeking to bring value to the on-campus experience. The application cycle occurs twice a year, during the Fall and Spring. The Fall term deadline was October 20.
Marcelle Doheny, Instructor in History and Social Science and Community Liaison of the Abbot Academy Fund, explained her role as the community liaison, and described the application process for an Abbot Grant, including what happens behind the scenes in evaluating an application after it is submitted.
“I work with students and adults who have ideas for grants by helping them through the application process. There are lots of steps, and it’s important to get the details right… Once the applications are submitted, the Abbot Academy Fund board will review them. Applicants then get a chance to pitch their grant at a dinner, and then the board meets the next day to vote on each and every grant,” said Doheny.
The Abbot Academy Fund has, historically, supported initiatives that stem from all parts of campus. Recent examples include the Abbot Garden, Curly Hair Club, and funds to travel to debate competitions. Sophie Liang ’26 detailed her experience with the application process for several of the clubs that she is involved in, such as Chemistry Club, Science Bowl, and Women in Stem.
“Overall, it was a pretty positive experience. At first, it was a bit confusing since a lot of the questions on the Abbot Grant application asked for pretty similar things. And so, having not done it before, I wasn’t exactly sure what to put for each of them. But, since I applied for more than one, after writing the first one, I got a better feel for it for the second and third ones, so it made that process a bit easier,” said Liang.
Liang elaborated on some of the difficulties with beginning an Abbot Grant application. She noted that the lack of publicity and knowledge around the grant could make it difficult for new students to learn about the opportunities that the Abbot Academy Fund offers.
“If anything, the school could do a better job in publicizing it a bit earlier because I know that there wasn’t really a general email sent out until pretty late in the [application] process. Maybe if it was publicized more, it would’ve helped,” said Liang.
Ripley Moody ’24, Co-Head of Photon, applied for an Abbot Grant in the past, and currently uses the 1,000 dollars they received towards essential supplies for the club. Ripley commented on the challenges of the application process and the guidance faculty members around campus provided.
“I did not have a good concept of what the Abbot board was looking for, how much money was reasonable to ask for, and how our grant could be best integrated into the community and framed as a community project. It turned out [Photon] was actually in a great place for that. I met with Mr. [Christopher] Capano[, Director of Student Activities], [and] Dr. [Christopher] Odden[, Instructor in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science,] and they gave me a lot of guidance on how to frame the grant, how to word everything, and how much [money] to ask for,” they said.
In its 50 year history, the Abbot Academy Fund has received over 2,300 proposals from students and faculty members of Andover, having granted more than 4,000,000 dollars in recent years. Doheny highlighted how the Abbot Academy Fund’s vision ties with Andover’s values and aspirations.
“There is so much student enthusiasm in the applications, and the board so appreciates the creativity and innovation behind each and everyone… If you want to apply for a grant, then the board wants a thorough and thoughtful application. That means having a clear sense of the impact of your grant on the [Andover] community, and hopefully beyond the community… We talk a lot about Non sibi here, and the Abbot’s care about having dreams and goals that aren’t just about you, but also help the school with its public purpose beyond the hill,” said Doheny.
