WMU News

Trustees hear two-month gift report

Sept. 19, 1997

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- More than $477,960 in cash gifts was donated to Western Michigan University during the initial two months of the 1997-98 fiscal year, according to a report presented to the WMU Board of Trustees at its Sept. 19 meeting.

July cash gifts amounted to $191,329 while August cash gifts amounted to $286,633. The $477,962 total is $371,609 lower than the amount received during the same two-month period last fiscal year.

Major donations reported included a $157,824 gift by an anonymous donor to establish an endowed Medallion Scholarship.

WMU's prestigious Medallion Scholarships represent some of the largest merit scholarships in American public higher education. Available to undergraduate students, each four-year Medallion award totals $32,000.

The Medallion program also benefited from a $25,000 gift from Dr. Russell H. and Eloise Seibert of Kalamazoo to support a scholarship in their name. Russell Seibert, professor emeritus of history, joined WMU in 1936 and retired in 1973 as vice president for academic affairs.

A longtime supporter of the Medallion Scholarship Program, he said in a letter that the contribution was made in part to honor WMU President Diether H. Haenicke. "This gift is as much in honor of your outstanding leadership as it is to help some excellent student receive a fine education at Western," he wrote.

Three additional gifts were earmarked for other scholarships.

Carol Weller provided $10,000 to establish the Brandt Rubin Endowed ISM (Integrated Supply Management) Scholarship. Weller's son, Rubin, was a senior ISM student at WMU who died in a motorcycle accident. Weller resides in Punta Gorda, Fla.

In addition, $13,200 was received from the Irene F. Davis estate to support the School of Music scholarship fund and $10,000 was received from the Leah Myrtle Sutherland estate to support need-based scholarships for College of Education students.

Davis, who received a teaching certificate from WMU in 1920, lived in Naples, Fla. Sutherland, who received a master's degree from WMU in 1970, lived in Albuquerque, N.M.

Other major gifts reported included $15,000 from the Georgia-Pacific Corp. of Atlanta, Ga., to support the Food Marketing Program and $10,000 from an anonymous donor to the WMU Friends in Japan Endowment.


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