Over 250 current Fort Hays State University students stopped by the Robbins Center, home of the FHSU Foundation – the fundraising arm of the university, to enjoy a free lunch along with the opportunity to win scholarships on Wednesday.
Representatives from Astra Bank, the scholarship sponsor, drew names for some of the lucky scholarship winners.
Awareness Day was created to educate current Tigers about the importance of private support. Along with a variety of other events held throughout the week, Awareness Day was an important component of FHSU’s inaugural “I Love FHSU Week” – celebrating the many events available to FHSU students, faculty, staff and the surrounding communities.
“Fort Hays State students are extremely fortunate to have the most amazing donors,” said Schuyler Coates, director of annual giving for the FHSU Foundation. “It’s truly an incredible experience for students to learn that there are real people behind the scholarships they receive and, often, the new equipment that they get to utilize.”
Some student visitors left behind thank-you notes for the donors:
- “Thank you for bettering my yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
- “Scholarships at FHSU have allowed me to reach my goals to become a doctor. I ♥ FHSU.”
- “Thank you for helping me to achieve more than I thought was possible.”
- “Thank you, donors, for supporting young adults trying to make a difference.”
- “Without scholarships many are not able to attend college. Thank you!”
“Students who attended our Awareness Day event will soon become alumni, some in the next month,” said Coates. “When they are called to support future Tigers down the road, our hope is that they will know the importance of paying it forward, and understand how vital their gifts are to our future.”
The scholarship winners:
$1,000 Scholarship – Jonathan Camelo, geology graduate student, Tickfaw, La.
$500 Scholarship – Nancy Mendoza, marketing sophomore, Oakley, for using #awarenessday in her social media post.
$100 Scholarship – Allison Muth, organizational leadership sophomore, Great Bend.
$100 Scholarship – Braden Scott, operations management senior, Ulysses.
$100 Scholarship – Gary Kelner, geosciences graduate student, Geosciences, New Brighton, Minn.
$100 Scholarship – Sijia “Scarlett” Li, Web development graduate student, Anshan, China.
$100 Scholarship – Carolina Gallegos, human resource management senior, Ulysses.
To help spread awareness across campus, the FHSU Foundation staked almost 100 lawn signs throughout campus for a week’s time.
“These signs have statistics printed on them that we think will resonate with our student body. They act as a reminder to students that FHSU donors and their gifts keep our great university running full-speed, and that we wouldn’t be such a strong institution today without their generosity,” said Coates.
Coates said ensuring that students know how FHSU is funded is an important lesson. She pointed out that the low tuition of Fort Hays State is only possible due to the number of generous alumni and friends, “who understand how important it is to give the gift of education.”
“A big thank you goes to Astra Bank for providing $2,000 in scholarships for us to give away throughout the Awareness Day event,” said Coates. “Astra Bank has provided scholarships for our Student Awareness Day event since 2014, and we cannot thank them enough for their generosity and support of our students.”