Charles and Marilyn Baillie give $1 million to support Trinity students

Charles and Marilyn Baillie give $1 million to support Trinity students

Charles Baillie ’62 and Marilyn Baillie ’65 have made a $1 million gift to Trinity College. The donation will create the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Award to provide financial assistance to students in need.

The Baillies have been strong supporters of education for many years, within their growing family and through their careers—Marilyn as an educator, children’s magazine editor and award-winning children’s book author, and Charles through two terms as Chancellor of Queen’s University and through the creation of a children’s literacy program through TD Bank Financial Group during his time as CEO.

“Marilyn and I believe deeply in the power of education to help people create their own success and to help build a stronger Canada,” says Charles Baillie. “We want to help ensure that every student who has earned a place at Trinity College has the same opportunity to access a first-rate Trinity education that we both had many years ago.”

Donations given to bursaries have a lasting and profound impact on students each year. SuJung Lee, a fourth-year student studying Economics with a specialization in Philosophy knows first-hand how much financial assistance means to the student experience. “My parents don’t earn enough to support my post-secondary education,” says Lee, “It’s been stressful, I feel like I’m scraping by all the time, and I’m not alone. You have no idea how much bursary support means to a student like me,” she says.

The Baillies’ endowment builds on the College’s proud history of alumni supporting the next generation of Trinity students in achieving their dreams. It will also help the College respond to increasing requests for that support in an era of rising education costs and reduced government funding: Over the next five years, the demand for needs-based awards is expected to grow by 34 per cent.

“By establishing this $1 million endowment, the Baillies are providing $40,000 every year for Trinity students in need,” says Alana Silverman, Trinity’s Executive Director of Development and Alumni Affairs. “It’s an incredible gift, and an amazing legacy for this couple to have created with the College.”

“Trinity students are achievers who go on to make substantial contributions to their communities and to Canada,” says Trinity Provost Mayo Moran. “We are so grateful to Marilyn and Charles. Through their generous gift and their vocal support of education, they are helping to ensure that our next generation of leaders has the support it needs to succeed.”

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