Following her successful year as the inaugural 2020 Chair of the Jones Poundstone Society, Susan Smyth Shenker ’69 will team with long-time donor and dedicated alumna, Lynn Darling Hendershot ’66, to serve as Co-Chairs for 2021. Together they will lead the annual giving effort as exemplars in unrestricted giving, playing a critical role in encouraging leadership annual gifts to support Arcadia.

Established in September 2019, the Jones Poundstone Society (JPS) recognizes those donors who make an annual gift of $1,000 or more to the University’s annual fund, The Fund for Arcadia. For the fiscal year ending in May 2020, JPS Chair Shenker led the inaugural giving society to a successful conclusion, welcoming 144 new JPS donors to the University. Together, JPS donors ushered in a 39 percent increase in leadership annual giving and collectively contributed nearly $445,000 of unrestricted support to benefit the immediate needs of Arcadia and its students, including program and scholarship support.  

Building on this momentum, Shenker and Hendershot will partner with Arcadia’s Division of University Advancement to serve as catalysts for unrestricted giving in 2021. The Co-Chairs will work to support the University’s efforts to secure new JPS donors, inspire renewed support from the 2020 JPS donors, and create a highly visible model of peer-to-peer engagement.

“Both Susan and Lynn possess a deep understanding of the transformative power of philanthropy, and they have committed to a role that is so important to the health of a bright future for Arcadia,” said Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement Brigette A. Bryant. “Their combined dedication to success and their pride for their alma mater will be an incredibly motivating force to reawaken the generous potential within our University community.”

Susan Smyth Shenker ’69
Susan Smyth Shenker was an English major who joined the ranks of loyal alumnae upon her graduation in 1969. From 1971 to 1981 Shenker served on the Board of Trustees, earning the respect and admiration from her peers, which only grew more deeply over time. She was President of the Arcadia University Alumni Association from 1981-1985 and served her class as president, fund agent, and a member of the reunion committee for many years. In 1994, the Alumni Association presented Shenker with the Mary Louise Armstrong Wolf Award for her outstanding volunteer service to Arcadia. Shenker was recognized again in 2000 as the recipient of the Alumni Association’s Golden Disc for Meritorious Service award in honor of her continued volunteerism and thoughtful support of her alma mater.

From the generosity of her first gift to Beaver College in 1971, to her philanthropic leadership at Arcadia over many years, Shenker has remained an inspiring alumna and loyal donor. Thanks to Shenker’s generous response to the library campaign in the early 2000s, the Grand Reading Room of the Landman Library is named after her. With more than 25 years of consistent giving, she is recognized within Arcadia’s Knight Loyalty Society. Shenker also joined the Covenant Society at its inception and took on the role of inaugural Chair of the Jones Poundstone Society in 2020.

“I feel a very strong sense of loyalty to my alma mater,” said Shenker. “My education opened my life to a world of opportunities, and it is my goal to share that experience with as many students as possible. I hope that I can encourage my peers to join me in this sentiment and that they, too, support the University to any extent they can.”

Lynn Darling Hendershot ’66
Celebrating her 55th reunion this year, Lynn Darling Hendershot ’66 has made her support of Beaver College and Arcadia University a personal priority since her graduation. Hendershot has supported the University in many ways, including her exemplary annual leadership support of The Fund for Arcadia, her generous response to the library campaign, and her thoughtful planned gift to Arcadia. In recognition for her decades of consecutive giving, Hendershot joins other devoted alumni in Arcadia’s Knight Loyalty Society. She’s also a proud member of Arcadia’s Covenant Society and became an inaugural Jones Poundstone Society donor in 2020.

A leader in her class, Hendershot served for many years on the Class of 1966 Reunion Committee. Beyond her long history of distinguished philanthropy and service to Arcadia, she enjoys another treasured connection to the University’s founding as Beaver College: her father was a cousin to the beloved Marjorie Darling, who served for years as Beaver College Director of Admissions. 

Early on in her professional career, Hendershot made the transition from the world of education to the world of business and ultimately found a career devoted to the philanthropic support of community organizations. Working as a director of planned giving, she found deep fulfillment in helping others to discover their own philanthropic potential.

Though now retired, her passion and expertise live on as she serves as a Co-Chair of the Jones Poundstone Society. “For me and so many others, the Beaver College experience was life-changing,” said Hendershot. “As a Co-Chair of the Jones Poundstone Society, this is an opportunity for me to encourage my fellow alumni to gratefully acknowledge that we all share a responsibility to ensure that Arcadia can provide that same life-changing experience to the bright and talented students of today and tomorrow.”

For more information, visit the Jones Poundstone Society page.