News & Notes: Bridge Year financial backing increases with new donation

A $4-million gift by a University alumni couple will pay for at least four students to participate in the Bridge Year Program each year, the University announced Monday.

The donation by Michael Novogratz ’87, president of Fortress Investment Group, and his wife Sukey Caceres Novogratz ’89 will establish a fund that will pay for at least one student to participate in each of the program’s four locations: China, India, Peru and Senegal.

According to the University statement, the gift — part of the University’s Aspire capital campaign, which exceeded its goal by raising $1.88 billion — will help increase the total number of students who can participate in the program.

In 2011, a female participant on Bridge Year spending the year in Ghana was robbed at knifepoint while walking alone after dark, which led in part to the University’s decision to terminate the Ghana location and replace it with Senegal. The University also announced last year that it would replace the Serbia location with China.