Welcome

Fellow Alumni,

It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter to you all today. I
am sorry to report that The Scholar Ship has been unable to secure
funding to continue the program. We are grateful for the generosity of
our previous financial sponsors, who provided us with significant
resources to develop the program from concept to reality.
Unfortunately, we must cancel the September 2008 and future voyages at
this time.

All of us should feel a sense of pride in knowing that we are amongst
the lucky few who have been able to live such a remarkable experience.
As this chapter in the history of The Scholar Ship ends, it is
important for all of you to know that many will continue to work hard
to begin the next. We encourage you all to keep in touch, utilizing
The Bridge directories and Facebook groups to keep our TSS family
close. The future of the website domain, including The Bridge
directories is uncertain at this time. We will work to preserve this
link, and wil l keep you updated about any changes through the
Facebook groups. Let's work through this challenging time together,
brainstorming and sharing ideas with our fellow TSSers about how we
can effectively revitalize this remarkable program.

For January 2008 Alumni, we have received your transcripts from
Macquarie, and will be sending them out to the address you provided in
the directory unless otherwise specified. We will send two copies of
your transcript at no cost. If you would like them to go to an address
other than the one in the directory (accessible online), you MUST
notify Kelly Milo at kmilo@thescholarship.com by Monday, June 16th
2008, 9am EST. Any requests received after this time will need to be
directed to Macquarie University and will involve an additional fee.
For your future reference, requests to Macquarie can be filed at the
following website:
http://www.student.mq.edu.au/ses/academictranscript.htm

For all students, we want to be very clear that the credits received
from your semester on board TSS are still valuable and will be
accepted as Macquarie University credits. For those of you who plan to
continue at Macquarie University next semester, our change in status
will not affect your plans. Macquarie has kept your transcripts at
their campus outside Sydney.

I know this news is very sad and that we have all grown to love this
program. As you begin to digest this information, please utilize me as
a resource for any questions you may have. The Baltimore phone lines
will be incredibly busy over the next few days, so feel free to email me at
alumnicoord@thescholarship.net to share your thoughts and express 
ideas for the future of TSS.

Warmest Regards,

Matt Amato, September '07 Alumnus
Alumni Coordinator, The Scholar Ship