Support for students is the single biggest area of emphasis in the campaign because students are the single biggest area of emphasis in everything we do. Attracting talented students with exclusive opportunities and ensuring that deserving students with limited or modest means have access to OWU has been and always will be a priority. This is possible only through donor support.
While the rest of campus is returning from winter break and preparing to tackle the next semester, Lyndsay McMullen ’19 will be going to work in a downtown Columbus office building and getting course credit. Her internship with Pricewaterhouse Coopers during the busy tax season is the continuation of a trajectory she began as a first-year student when she was selected as an Economic Management Fellow (EMF).
The highly selective EMF program offered through the Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship was created in 2008 and accepts only 15 to 20 first-year students each year, many of whom also receive merit-based scholarships. Fellows are introduced to the resources of the Economics Department through a seminar exclusive to them and travel on a fully paid trip to New York City with faculty to visit the Federal Reserve and meet with alumni in business and government.
“It’s just awesome to see the opportunities you get from EMF,” McMullen says.
“I’ve gotten to meet so many amazing alums who are excited to talk to us and just help in every single possible way they can.”
Count Kevin McGinty ’70 and his wife Nancy Collinson McGinty among the supporters who are finding multiple ways to increase opportunities for today’s students. The couple from Moreland Hills, Ohio, are serving as co-chairs of the Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign and made a $500,000 campaign gift that includes an endowment for the EMF program, in recognition of Kevin McGinty’s long-standing service on the Alumni Advisory Board of the Woltemade Center and as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees.
“I’m a real advocate in making sure that we marry what’s being taught in the classroom with what takes place in the world,” McGinty says.
“Particularly in the field of economics and business, it’s becoming increasingly important to have that knowledge while students are still being instructed.”
Turner Johnson ’21 is enjoying the in-depth introduction to the field. “I think EMF has done a great job of showing so many aspects of business that I’ll get a great view of what’s out there,” he says.
Johnson and his parents met the McGintys at the annual Donors and Scholars Brunch during Homecoming and Family Weekend in October, in which endowment fund donors or contacts have the opportunity to meet the students and faculty who benefit from their gifts.
Turner’s mother, Julia Johnson, says, “It’s so fun to see how excited the McGintys are about the program…which I think is another thing that differentiates OWU: You can just tell from the very beginning how passionate they are about helping the students beyond their college time.”
Craig Luke ’85 grew up, as he describes it, in the inner city of Cincinnati, the youngest of six children. His grandparents were sharecroppers and his parents weren’t able to attend college, but they were determined that their children would.
“For me, coming to Ohio Wesleyan was a big deal,” he says.
Luke came to OWU sight unseen on the basis of scholarship support and, after pledging Delta Tau Delta, formed friendships that have lasted decades. He majored in accounting and literature and went on to earn his master of business administration degree from the Scheller College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology before going into a successful career in banking supervision and regulation. He’s now group vice president with Sun Trust Bank.
Through the years, he has volunteered extensively for OWU, including serving as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; he’s also a member of the Board of Trustees.
Luke reflected on his own experience in making a $100,000 gift along with his wife, Eloise, to create an endowment to support first-generation college students. “I want to help them come here and thrive, as I did,” he says.
“We all know transitioning to college is challenging for any student, but for first-generation students it’s even more challenging,” he says, pointing to a lack of resources or even just the lack of someone to offer guidance about time-management, studying, and budgeting.
“I think it’s very important that first-generation students have that opportunity, and (my hope is) this scholarship can help alleviate some of that financial need they have.
“(Alumni) are all so passionate about this place because we know what it’s done for us and want others to experience that as well,” Luke says.
Return to the Winter 2018 OWU Magazine
Of our 2017-18 first-year class, 22 percent of students come from families earning less than $40,000 annually, another 15 percent come from households earning less than $70,000 a year – creating an enormous challenge for parents who still must pay an average of $9,521 in tuition and other expenses each academic year.
In the competitive higher education landscape, scholarships for high-achieving students can be the deciding factor when choosing a school. Ensuring that OWU can compete for these students, with scholarships and rigorous academic options, helps to raise the intellectual bar on campus as a whole.
A family’s financial situation can change. A parent might lose a job or a sibling might go off to college, prompting an enrolled student to struggle with bills. Helping OWU students remain on track through graduation is a critical emphasis of the campaign, and a daily focus of everyone who works with students on campus.