Wednesday morning the Fort Hays State University Foundation announced its second largest gift in its history, a $3 million investment that will be used to build the “Dane G. Hansen Scholarship Hall,” a one-of-a-kind learning environment with the hope of fostering student entrepreneurship.
The facility is in the early planing stages, but the facility was announced to hold 33 residence, with a tentative open date of Fall 2016.
Mark Bannister, Dean of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship said the hall will give FHSU an edge as it builds on the focus on entrepreneurship.
“Too many universities design their classes to prepare students to work in Fortune 500 companies located in a select number of urban areas,” he said. “FHSU has some students who will decide to follow that career route, but statistics show that most of our graduates remain in Kansas. Others may return to Kansas and northwest Kansas after working elsewhere. We want these students to be equipped to help their employers become entrepreneurial and to be prepared to start and operate their own businesses. A nationally unique entrepreneurship scholarship hall will be extremely powerful in boosting our efforts.”
“This gift is special to us and we really do appreciate it,” said Mirta Martin, FHSU President. “It will have a tremendous impact on our students.”
“The future of our quarter of the state depends upon our ability to grow job opportunities with high-quality workers who can cement the historic foundations of our cherished communities and the rural areas. This is another step in a growing and maturing relationship between the Hansen Foundation and Fort Hays State to build a bright future for our part of the state,” she said.
“This scholarship hall will be unique nationally,” Bannister said. “The Dane G. Hansen Foundation’s support will amplify the current entrepreneurship activities of FHSU. These include an academic certificate open to all students, a minor and a new concentration in the management degree.”
“Unlike traditional student living environments, the Dane G. Hansen Scholarship Hall will be an integrated living and learning environment with established learning goals, specified academic curriculum and entrepreneurial extracurricular activities. Students will apply and may be selected from any academic major. Their commonality will be a desire to learn more about entrepreneurship and to potentially start their own business. They will be mentored by FHSU faculty and with successful entrepreneurs. They will be linked with local, regional and state economic development resources and participate in activities ranging from tours of innovative and startup businesses to business plan and 3-D prototype development. The end goal is that the residents are prepared to create business startups — whether they do so as students or later in life after gaining work experience,” according to a statement from FHSU.
Tim Chapman, President and CEO of the FHSU Foundation said the gift from the foundation is the second largest single day gift in the history of FHSU and the foundation is also FHSU’s largest donor.
Hansen, an entrepreneur from Logan had an interest in education and following his death in 1965 left a generous gift that would be used to establish the foundation granting scholarships to students with an interest in community involvement.
“We have the easy job at the Hansen Foundation of giving out money,” said Cy Moyer, a trustee of the foundation who spoke on behalf of the foundation at the press conference. “What comes after is the hard work. This proposed scholarship house to be built on the FHSU campus is a gift idea of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in cooperation with the university. It is to be dedicated to higher education that will foster leadership, entrepreneurial ideas and innovative business in northwest Kansas.”
Click here to find out more about the Dane G. Hansen foundation or the FHSU foundation.