When College of Education alumnus Don Davis ’74 lost his daughter to a rare genetic disorder, he chose to keep her memory alive through the gift of scholarship.

Don Davis ’74 has always been a strong believer in the power of higher education and scholarships to help students from all walks of life develop their full potential.

In the 1970s, Davis came to UMass Amherst with the help of the GI Bill, which was aimed at helping servicemen readjust to civilian life.

“I never thought of it as a handout. I considered it a hand up to help students get to the next level of their development.”

DON DAVIS ’74

When he earned his bachelor’s degree in human development from the UMass Amherst College of Education, he felt exceptionally well prepared for graduate school – and for a long and fruitful career helping others as a social worker and clinical instructor.  

While working at the Durham, North Carolina Veterans Affairs Medical Center—a Duke University teaching hospital—he also served as a senior fellow in the university’s Center on Aging.

Today, he is giving back to the College of Education in a big way through the Colleen M. Davis Scholarship Fund, which he established in 2021 in memory of his only child.

“Colleen was always interested in learning, from when she was very young,” he says. “And along the way she wanted to help others too. She tutored students throughout her high school and undergraduate years, and she loved doing it.”

Colleen received a full scholarship to the neuroscience doctoral program at Brown University, where she studied language acquisition. But in her second semester, she started showing signs of chronic illness. Her diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome—a rare genetic disorder that affected the connective tissues of her body and caused cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and neurological issues —forced her to withdraw from the program. 

“When she came back to live with me, she said, ‘How many people get a full scholarship to an Ivy League institution in their life?’ That was how she viewed her situation. She always had a positive attitude.”

When Colleen passed away in 2020, Davis decided to take the money he had put aside for her future care and donate it to a scholarship fund at his alma mater.

“The great thing about establishing a scholarship in her name is that she’s technically not on this Earth, but she’s still helping people,” he says.

Faith Motta ’28 is one of those people.

Motta, originally from Adams, Massachusetts, was homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade. Her deep involvement with the 4H Club in her area helped familiarize her with UMass, and she came to think of it as her “dream school.”

“I was very anxious applying because schooling is important to me, but in terms of the money and the financial means, I thought, ‘How am I going to pull this off?’”    

Motta admits to feeling like the only one among her classmates who was dealing with financial concerns. When she applied for the Davis Scholarship and was chosen, she felt overwhelming relief.

“It really was a shock to me,” she says. “I was crying and jumping around my dorm room.”

After she called her father to tell him the news, she wrote a heartfelt thank-you note to Don Davis.

“I cannot stop smiling. You cannot begin to imagine how much you have helped me. I had been very anxious about paying next semester’s bill, and you have truly lifted a weight off of my shoulders.”

FAITH MOTTA ’28, in her note to Don Davis

This is the exact type of impact Davis hoped the scholarship would have.

“I was very clear that I wanted the fund to help promising students who had the greatest amount of need,” he says.

Since first establishing the fund, Davis has also committed to a planned gift, which will leave a portion of his estate to the fund to ensure it can support undergraduates at the College of Education for years to come.  

In a coincidence that brings Davis’s story full circle in a way, Motta is set on becoming an English teacher on military bases for the Department of Defense. She is currently participating in an internship working with kids whose parents are in the military through the Yellow Ribbon Project.  

“I want to thank Mr. Davis for taking what was a big loss to him personally and making a difference for someone else,” she says. "That is a beautiful legacy. It made me feel seen – like all the work I’m doing is actually making a difference.”

To support aspiring educators and leaders in the College of Education, make a gift to the college’s Priorities Fund or its Student Emergency Fund.