Purposeful Philanthropy

Between 1972 and 2010, 35 young women from Sri Lanka came to Wilson College. The story of how Wilson became a higher education destination for young women from the island nation in the Indian Ocean begins with Catherine “Kay” Hauberg Sweeney (1914-1995).

In 1972, Sweeney fully funded the first Sri Lankan student to attend Wilson, Nelu Senanayake de Silva ’75. Over the next 20-plus years, Sweeney would fund seven more students. At the same time, other young Sri Lankans began to apply. While word of mouth and the College’s reputation surely played a role in attracting them to Wilson, the story of the “Sweeney Scholars” is largely one of friendships and family relationships.

Botanist and gardener, philanthropist, writer, patron of the arts, world traveler, Wilson honorary degree recipient, and Trustee Emerita, Sweeney packed a lot into a lifetime. In addition to these accomplishments, her remarkable Wilson-Sri Lankan legacy epitomizes her foresight, kindness, and generosity.

Sweeney didn’t set out to fund deserving students. This expression of her philanthropy began while on a visit to Sri Lanka. There she was introduced to many prominent families by Christobel Weerasinghe, wife of a former Sri Lanka ambassador to the U.S. and a very close friend of the Sweeneys. Weerasinghe introduced her to the Senanayakes and their daughter Nelu who hoped to study in the U.S. At the time, the Sri Lankan government had imposed currency restrictions that limited the amount of money that could be transferred out of the country. In effect, Nelu and students like her couldn’t study abroad. Sweeney, recognizing the young woman’s potential, offered to fund her education at Wilson College, thus introducing the College to Sri Lanka.

Nelu’s mother, Nalini Senanayake, later influenced at least three of the other Sweeney scholars to apply to Wilson: neighbor Chandi Amarasinghe Kadirgamar ’79, niece Premali Wijenaike Munasinha ’81, and daughter of family friends Natasha Peiris Fernando ’93. Natasha believes Senanayake arranged her scholarship. Premali received a letter from the College granting hers. (Ayoma Fernando, ’82, daughter of other family friends, applied on Senanayake’s recommendation.) Chandi and Premali’s parents were also family friends of the Weerasinghes. While there are no written records of how students were selected, I assume that Sweeney considered these two women’s suggestions to select those she supported in consultation with the College.

Natalie Gudewardene-Palleros, ’85, knew Sweeney as a child and received her scholarship due to the “good offices” of her uncle Larry Schokman, Sweeney’s colleague. Ranmali Hapugalle, ’89, was brought to Sweeney and Wilson’s attention by another friend. Sweeney later met the Hapugalle family in 1988 while Ranmali was a student at Wilson and directly offered to pay for sister Chaitri’s education and later younger sister Chethika’s.

Although the girls all attended private schools and could certainly have attended university in Sri Lanka, Sweeney clearly saw the advantage of an international education for them which was also their preference. Wilson, a women’s college, appealed to their parents. And by the 1970s, Wilson needed students as enrollment was declining. Sri Lanka’s civil war (1983 to 2009) made Sweeney’s assistance even more important to the girls who attended Wilson during that time.

It is also important to note that assigning motivation to Sweeney’s efforts in all her endeavors is largely speculation. Unfortunately, many of her private papers, which may have revealed her thinking, were destroyed following her passing. Very few who knew her well remain other than her children, and the girls she funded are our best source.