By UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Approximately 260 donor scholarships exceeding $327,000 were awarded to business and entrepreneurship students for the 2023-24 academic year at Fort Hays State University. This is an increase of nearly $10,000 over last year.
The awards ceremony for the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business & Entrepreneurship, held Sept. 14 in the FHSU Memorial Union Ballroom, brought donors and students together to recognize the spirit of those who “pay it forward.”
“We celebrate our philanthropists and welcome a new generation of students whose lives will be changed and impacted by their generosity,” said Tisa Mason, FHSU president. “Hopefully, those students will follow the same kindness and philanthropy as they go on to make a difference in the world.”
For Robbins ambassadors Nate Egan and Braden Schulte, the scholarships presented during the ceremony were a part of the larger impact they had discovered at Fort Hays State. Egan and Schulte are recipients of the Robbins Ambassador Scholarship, a prestigious opportunity available to undergraduate business students.
“There is no shortage of people willing to offer a smile, advice, or anything I need to further my education,” Schulte said. “This includes all the donors who provide so much support for me and my fellow students.”
Throughout the ceremony, donors, many of whom were FHSU graduates, expressed their enthusiasm for being able to fund scholarships for talented FHSU students. Many companies represented by the donors employ FHSU alums. Jamie Dreher of Brungardt, Hower, Ward, Elliott & Pfeifer said 95 percent of her company’s employees are FHSU graduates.
“Nearly all of us (at Brungardt Hower) have been in your shoes and received scholarships of one type or another,” she said. “We just want to perpetuate the cycle and keep it moving.”
Seeing successful businesses and individuals invest in FHSU students was a highlight of the event for Melissa Hunsicker-Walburn, interim dean of the Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
“It is an honor to be able to do this event year after year and leave here inspired,” Hunsicker-Walburn said in her concluding remarks. “Donors, you all pay it forward. We are so very grateful to be reminded of the difference you make in the lives of our students.”
Learn how to support students within FHSU’s Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship by visiting https://foundation.fhsu.edu or contacting the FHSU Foundation at 785-628-5620 or foundation@fhsu.edu.