{"id":56422,"date":"2020-09-24T08:14:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T13:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=56422"},"modified":"2020-09-24T08:14:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T13:14:15","slug":"fischli-wills-center-for-student-success-powered-by-philanthropy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=56422","title":{"rendered":"Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success powered by philanthropy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new Center for Student Success is coming to life on the campus of Fort Hays State University, thanks in part to the support of generous alumni and donors.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nFischli-Wills Center for Student Success was strategically designed with a\none-stop shop approach. This is an opportunity for FHSU to enhance all areas of\nstudent health – mind, body and soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first floor\nwill welcome new students to campus and will concentrate on academic and career\nsupport. The second floor is intentionally designed to provide experiential\nopportunities that will develop engaged global citizen-leaders. The third floor\nwas designed to keep students healthy through preventative education, and\nphysical and mental health care services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By attaching\nthe new three-story facility to the Memorial Union, Fort Hays State will be\nable to provide access to students beyond normal operating hours. Walking over\na glass-covered bridge between the Memorial Union and the center, students will\nenter a space designed specifically for their success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powered by\nphilanthropy, the new facility would not have been possible without the\ngenerous support of alumni and donors. The building is named in honor of\nRichard Fischli and Dolores Wills-Fischli, whose journey with Fort Hays State\nbegan with two rural Kansas kids pursuing a college education. Richard and\nDolores both earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from FHSU in the 1950s,\nthen moved to southern California. Upon retiring from their careers in education\nwith the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Fischlis moved back home to\nLogan, a small community in Phillips County in north central Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As lifelong\nK-12 educators, Richard and Dolores made an impact on thousands of students\nthroughout their careers. Beyond the classroom, the Fischlis were known for\ngiving what they could and truly understood the impact that every dollar had on\nstudent success. In 1981, they started giving back to Fort Hays State with an\ninitial gift of $5. Today, this stunning new facility is becoming a reality\nthanks to a $5 million gift from the late Richard and Dolores Fischli. Although\nthe generous couple is no longer with us, their legacy of impacting students\nwill continue to live on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of\nother generous alumni and donors have stepped forward and named a space within\nthe new center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FHSU donor\nRobert Kurr knew the center would be a tremendous addition to Fort Hays State\u2019s\ncampus and has generously donated to name two spaces within the facility. \u201cUpon\nhearing the purpose and location of this new building, the FHSU Tiger within me\nbecame very motivated to join in and help move the project forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A passion for\nhelping others to be successful is what led the Olliff family to support the\nFischli-Wills Center for Student Success. The Olliffs\u2019 donation will give them\nthe opportunity to name the Kelly Center space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late Darel\nOlliff and his wife, Shirley, were in the funeral home business in Phillips\nCounty for many years as third-generation funeral directors. While serving\nmany people during the struggles of losing a loved one, Darel developed a\npassion for emotional and mental health.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their son, Dr.\nKenton Olliff, is an associate professor of Advanced Education Programs at Fort\nHays State. He previously served as FHSU\u2019s assistant vice president for student\naffairs, as well as Director of the Kelly Center, and shares the same passion\nfor helping others to be successful, especially students. His wife, Carol\nSolko-Olliff, served as FHSU\u2019s Coordinator of Accessibility Services in the\nKelly Center prior to her current position on campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nFischli-Wills Center for Student Success will be a wonderful addition to Fort\nHays State University,\u201d Kenton and Carol shared. \u201cThe services will assist\nstudents in many ways, helping them to be successful while at the university\nand beyond. Because of this mission, we thought donating to the facility by\nnaming the \u201cKelly Center\u201d space would be a wonderful legacy to Darel and\nShirley Olliff and the entire Olliff family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adjacent to the\nKelly Center on the third floor of the facility is a reception area, named by\nFort Hays State supporters Preston and Judy Caprez. Preston has three degrees\nfrom FHSU. Judy is a retired FHSU professor who spent 23 years with the\nDepartment of Social Work, the last several as director before her retirement.\nTheir children, Dr. Cassanda Caprez Davis and Dr. Adam Caprez, are both FHSU\ngraduates.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is fitting\nthat the reception area for the Kelly Center be named on behalf of Judy and\nalso Dr. Viola Caprez Ames, Preston\u2019s aunt. Viola was a personal friend of Dr.\nGeorge Kelly, namesake of FHSU\u2019s Kelly Center, while both were at Fort Hays\nState many years ago. Preston and Judy said their decision to support the\nFischli-Wills Center for Student Success was an easy one, and they hope their\nsupport will help ensure mental health services for present and future FHSU\nstudents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of the\nmost exciting things we can do as supporters of Fort Hays State University is\nto help students to be healthy and successful and to graduate on time,\u201d said\nDr. Joey Linn, FHSU vice president for Student Affairs. \u201cIncreasing retention\nand graduation rates is a top priority for colleges across the country. The\nFischli-Wills Center for Student Success will provide wrap-around services to\nall students, helping them to achieve their educational goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linn added that\n\u201cFort Hays State University has long been known as an innovator in student\nsuccess. Our students need a center like this – it\u2019s a further commitment that\nwe want to see them cross the stage at commencement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donors have the\nunique opportunity to join Fort Hays State in empowering each student to attain\ntheir degree. A wide variety of naming options are available throughout the\nfacility \u2013 first come, first served. To learn more, visit https:\/\/foundation.fhsu.edu\/impact\/campus-updates<\/a> or contact Mary Hammond with the FHSU\nFoundation at 785-628-5620 or mshammond2@fhsu.edu<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All gifts to\nFHSU, including those to name a space in the center, contribute to FHSU\u2019s\ncurrent Journey campaign. We hope others will be a part of the journey and consider\ncontributing to this unique facility. Other alumni and donors who have already\nnamed a space within FHSU\u2019s new Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success are:\nJill and Mike Arensdorf; Griffin Family (Kellen and Quillen Griffin, Stan and\nNeva Griffin, Thayne and Kristen Griffin, Mark and Patricia Griffin); Dennis\nand Melanie King; and Taylor and Luke Kriley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS A new Center for Student Success is coming to life on the campus of Fort Hays State University, thanks in part to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11722],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/FHSU-new-F-W-student-service-Image-NEWS.jpg?fit=2160%2C1215&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56424,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56422\/revisions\/56424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}