The peers developed a friendship during the early 2000s while participating on the men’s (JujiTSU) and women’s (TSUnami) ultimate frisbee teams. The group saw a need for an organizing body of college-level ultimate frisbee tournaments. Soon after, Sensei Ultimate was born, which was later renamed Sun Ultimate Frisbee.
The Sensei Alumni Ultimate Frisbee Endowed Scholarship is designated to support students participating on either the men’s or women’s ultimate frisbee team with financial need who demonstrate leadership, inclusion, sportsmanship, selflessness and player/team development.
While it’s certainly true that donations of all sizes make a big difference, that is a message that can be hard to communicate – especially to younger alumni. Unfortunately, the more time that passes after graduation, the less likely an alum is to give back at all. And those who do give back longer after graduating tend to give less than those who start giving back right after college
“I am grateful for each and every gift commitment that has been made during this campaign. It takes every single gift to reach a stretch goal,” said Charles Hunsaker, interim director for advancement. “With roughly seven years invested in this campaign, counting pre-campaign planning, it is so gratifying for our staff and volunteers to have surpassed this significant goal.”
Celebrating the Past, Pursuing the Future
“Pursue the Future” Campaign Tracking Toward a Successful Conclusion
The first annual Charles J. McClain Pershing Scholar was announced at the annual Pershing Reception on campus. Judge Ann Covington, widow of Dr. McClain, presented the award to Jacob Fallman, a senior from Oak Grove, Mo.
To enhance the celebration activities, Mike (’85) and Janet (’84) McClaskey of Castle Pines, Co., have designated $25,000 from their overall cash commitment of $100,000 to be used as a challenge gift for the sesquicentennial year. Mike, who is currently serving as the president of the Foundation Board of Directors, knows the importance private support will play in Truman’s future. He and Janet hope their challenge gift will encourage alumni and friends to join the pursuit.
Tiffany Shearer’s entire future, not to mention her ambition of attending college, was suddenly in peril when her mother abandoned her in 2012 at the start of her senior year at Affton High School.
“She said she was leaving to go on a three-week business trip and never returned home. The fact that my father has never been a part of my life, and my grandma had recently passed away, I really didn’t have any family or financial support,” Shearer said. Getting through her senior year was physically, mentally and emotionally draining.
Bulldog B.I.T.E., which stands for Business Innovation by Truman Entrepreneurs, allowed participants to pitch a for-profit or not-for-profit concept. Judges selected six teams to attend the live pitch competition in March in St. Louis to present their product to an alumni panel. Contestants were judged based on the problem, product/service solution, market, competition, value creation, seed money, a Q&A session and the presentation of the project.
With the goal of facilitating increased cultural exchange between his native country and the United States, Chi Cheung and his wife Candace are providing an annual gift of $10,000 to the Foundation to support interns from Truman.
After immigrating from his ancestral home in Da Tian in the People’s Republic of China, Cheung built a successful community-based business in Jefferson City, Mo. In addition to their support of Truman, the Cheungs have a well-established history of philanthropic endeavors. They previously financed the building of a school in Chi’s rural hometown in the mountains of western China. In the fall of 2014, Truman students Michael Fentress and Summer Santos received the Cheung Annual Scholarship for the Truman EFL Internship in China and spent the semester teaching English at the school.
Designed to support high-achieving business administration students with financial need, the Han’s hope this scholarship will allow exceptional students the opportunity to attend Truman and develop extraordinary leadership skills. The scholarship will be available for upper-class business administration students who are already active in community and/or extracurricular activities and have demonstrated leadership.
Alumnus Mark Gardner (’75) named a scholarship in honor of his parents, Harry and Essie (Kelley) Gardner, as a tribute to the family’s passion for lifelong learning and their belief that education is the foundation of civilized society.
Prospective students from Kansas, Nebraska and other western states now have an added incentive to attend Truman thanks to a gift from Ann and Gary Patterson of Wichita, Kan., and their son, Tyler. The Leone-Patterson Endowed and Annual Scholarship is designed for students from those states who have unmet need, have active involvement and leadership in extra-curricular activities and a minimum high school grade point average of 3.25.
Dr. Lydia Inman Fjeld gave selflessly to Truman throughout her life. She arrived at the University in 1973 after accepting the position of head of the Division of Home Economics. Shortly thereafter, in 1975, she was named dean of graduate studies, a position she occupied until her retirement in 1983.
The Dr. Samuel Lloyd Simpson Scholarship Fund was established at Truman State University by members of his family and a bequest from the estate of his daughter, Betty Jo Simpson Oswald (’69, ’72).
Through a partnership of University resources and private contributions, the Del and Norma Robison Planetarium and Multimedia Theater at Truman was unveiled to the public during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Homecoming 2014.
Truman has received a $50,000 grant from the Bell Family Foundation of San Francisco, Calif., to establish an endowed scholarship program for students studying computer science. The gift was made to honor the late Lola Gordon Bell, a 1923 graduate of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, and Sharon Bell Smith, a 1961 graduate, respectively the mother and sister of the foundation’s founder, C. Gordon Bell of San Francisco
Family and friends established the Mackenzie Kathleen McDermott Memorial Scholarship Fund in loving memory of the Truman student who passed away in October 2014. Mackenzie was a junior from Springfield, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo., majoring in both English and sociology/anthropology.
Dr. Teri Heckert, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, displayed remarkable courage as her fierce battle with cancer concluded, Feb. 19, 2014. To memorialize and commemorate her significant and lasting contributions to the University, family and friends established the Dr. Teresa M. Heckert Memorial Scholarship in Psychology.
Between them, John and Jane Bartling taught and mentored hundreds of Truman students. To recognize and commemorate this long record of service to students and the campus community, Dr. John S. Bartling recently made a gift of securities valued at nearly $65,000 to establish four new scholarship funds with the Truman State University Foundation.
While registering for his freshman year at Marceline High School, Ron Wiggins (’59) first encountered a new graduate of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College who would prove to have a profound and lasting influence on his life