Big things can start very small.
Case in point: The College Club of St. Louis, whose members gathered at the Sunset Country Club in Sunset Hills on Thursday to celebrate 125 years of helping young women get college educations.
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Founded in 1901 by a group of college-educated women seeking equal voting rights with men—since known as “suffragettes”—the club within a few years awarded its first scholarship: a pair of shoes to a young woman enrolled at Washington University. “So she could walk to the university,” Claudia Uccello, the club scholarship chairman, told the audience on Thursday.
Years of sound investing have enabled the club to award 1,215 scholarships worth more than $4.6 million, Uccello added.
“Just look at us now,” she told her cheering audience, who sat around tables whose centerpieces were elegant high heels entwined with flowers and colorful tissue paper—an homage to that first pair of shoes.
This year looks like it’ll be the most generous in club history. At its scholarship luncheon on April 23 the club plans to award $250,000 in financial aid—25 scholarships worth $10,000 apiece to seniors from public high schools in St. Louis city and county.
This year’s scholarships derive from $120,000 donated by the closely aligned Ballman Foundation, with the rest coming from the club’s own investment fund.
Club president Brenda Davis wants to put the word out about its scholarship program.
Not enough young women know to apply for money that’ll defray the rising cost of a college education.
“That’s the biggest challenge,” Davis said. “It’s so expensive.”
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of academic standards, financial need, extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation from high school teachers, Davis said.
Of the 53 public high school seniors who applied for scholarships during the 2025-26 school year, 38 were chosen for interviews with club counselors, before the final cut of 25 awardees was chosen, Davis said.
The club isn’t just about awarding scholarship funds. It also organizes two lectures per month on a wide variety of topics, with presentation topics ranging from the “hidden history” of St. Louis to an upcoming performance of the Gateway Harmonica Club.
The club’s purpose is “to educate women,” Davis said. “So we have our luncheons twice a month and we have programs that give us an education you wouldn’t be able to Google.”
Emel Kopman, the club’s social studies chairwoman, said she was recruited by a friend to join in 2019. She’s remained an eager member ever since because “I wanted to continue my intellectual development and meet with like-minded ladies that support women’s education and intellectual growth,” Kopman said. “I think it’s important that women support other women in terms of education, personal support.”
