Opening spring 2027 for the graduating Class of 2027.
In 2026, Tim Dempsey ('83) marked the Foundation's 25th year with a $50,000 gift on behalf of his class — and challenged every other PCS class, and the whole of "Sandstoner nation," to match it. This spring the challenge continues: distribute $100,000 in scholarships to one graduating class, five times the Foundation's typical annual total.
The idea behind the challenge
From the president's first appeal to alumni, March 2001 — the plan the Foundation still follows.
"It is communicated to each recipient that the funds received are to be viewed as a temporary loan: to be paid back to future students when they are financially able."
Franklin Academy in Malone had raised more than a million dollars and was awarding roughly $50,000 a year directly to students. Tim Dempsey's letter asked Potsdam alumni a plain question: wouldn't it be terrific if we could do this here?
The Foundation's formula has not changed since: half of every dollar raised is awarded at the next Senior Awards Night, and half is pooled into a permanent endowment, so that each generation's giving keeps paying out to the next.
The Class of '83 challenge is that idea at scale — a single class putting a whole year's awards on the table and asking every other class to answer.
Founded in 2000, giving every year since 2001.