Mary Vanier of Manhattan has given a gift of $1 million to Kansas State University to create at least 30 matching gift scholarships as part of the K-State Family Scholarship Program, K-State Today announced Tuesday. This program is an initiative of the KSU Foundation to increase scholarship dollars to help K-State attract and retain students and to inspire new donors to invest in student success.
The Mary L. Vanier K-State Family Scholarship will be used to match at least 30 new gifts for scholarships. New gifts of $30,000 will be matched with $30,000 from Vanier’s gift. $10,000 will go into an expendable scholarship fund, making $2,000 scholarships immediately available to students. The remaining $50,000 will go into the endowment, ensuring future generations of Wildcats will receive scholarships as well. This program widens the philanthropic support base for Kansas State University by inspiring new donors to give while creating scholarships necessary to help students attend K-State today and in the future.
“I hope this inspires those who have thought about setting up a scholarship but haven’t because they couldn’t meet the minimum endowment requirement,” Vanier said. “It’s going to take all of us to support K-State, and this program offers a wonderful way to get involved. With this match program, our newest donors can make a significant impact on students right away.
“We are at a very critical time at Kansas State University due to decreased state support of higher education and decreased enrollments,” Vanier said. “I hope this gift and the 30 gifts it inspires will send a message to the young people who want to attend K-State that we care, we want you at our university, and we support your goals of attaining a college degree.”
The K-State Family Scholarship Program is looking to expand across the academy.
“We are asking our most loyal and generous donors to lay the financial foundation, as Mary Vanier has, to build a successful scholarship program by offering matching funds,” said Greg Willems, president of the KSU Foundation. “Widening our donor base will be imperative to creating the substantial increase in student support required to attract and retain students to K-State, now and in the future. The creation of matching scholarships is a powerful expression of what it means to live up to the true spirit of the K-State Family.”
