How One Scholarship Had a “Huge Impact” on Fiona Lilly ’25
Fiona Lilly ’25 swims at the Athletic & Fitness Center pool during the 2024-25 swim & dive season.
Receiving the Heffer Family Scholarship for Women didn’t just help Fiona Lilly ’25 attend Chatham University. It allowed her to graduate free of student debt.
She had saved up money working as a babysitter since she was a teen, but there were times amid the COVID-19 pandemic when she couldn’t work at all leading up to her 2022 graduation. The Heffer Family Scholarship for Women made it possible to go to college without taking a gap year to save more money.
“For me, it has had a huge impact on my education and my future,” said Lilly, who majors in cell and molecular biology. “I would not be there without this scholarship, and that would be incredibly difficult, because I plan to go to grad school. I don’t need debt on debt on debt.”
Lilly first learned about Chatham at a young age. Her grandfather, Larry Viehland, was a faculty member from 1999 to 2018. She was raised just minutes away from the Shadyside Campus in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood. In addition to babysitting in high school, she was also a member of the Scouts BSA (formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America), which she joined shortly after the organization went all-gender in 2019. It was a memorable experience.
“For me, it had a huge impact on my education and my future,” Lilly said of the Heffer Family Scholarship for Women.
“We faced a lot of backlash, originally, from the scouting community,” she said. “I had people telling me I don’t belong there, that I wasn’t going to be as good at any of the activities as the boys.” She attained the organization’s highest rank, Eagle Scout.
She knew she wanted complete her undergraduate studies close to home. “I have a lot of family in the area,” she said. Now in her final term, she reflects fondly on her time at Chatham.
“I like knowing my professors one-on-one,” she said. She’s made friends studying in her courses, competing on the swim & dive team, and participating in student organizations like the Tabletop Gaming Club. “Some of the people I’m closest to right now are people I’ve met here. We stay in contact over the summers and everything. We’re tight.”
Lilly is a fan of the faculty too. “I love my advisor, I love my capstone mentor,” she said. “I talk to them all the time. Professors are all really nice and accommodating.”
Endowed and expendable scholarships, like the Heffer Family Scholarship for Women, make Chatham University a possibility for many students.
April 22nd is Chatham University’s ninth annual Day of Giving. During this 24-hour period, your gift in support of scholarships allows more students like Fiona attend Chatham and go on to lead lives of purpose.
On this Earth Day, help Chatham grow. Visit chatham.edu/give for more.