Pictured (L-R): Jay McGowan, Bellarmine University President; Larry Shinn, Berea College President; Charles Shearer, Transylvania University President; Gil Fleek, UPS Employee Relations Manager for the Kentucky District; Mark Walston, UPS Package Delivery Driver; Hal Smith, Pikeville College President/AIKCU Board Chair; Gary Cox, AIKCU President; Bob Imhoff, Mid-Continent University President; Sister Margaret Stallmeyer, Thomas More College President; Ed de Rosset, Union College President; Keith Keeran, Kentucky Christian University President; Michael Carter, Campbellsville University President.
UPS delivers scholarships for students at Kentucky’s independent colleges: UPS Foundation provides $55,000 for AIKCU Named Scholars Program
UPS provided a special delivery last week to the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU), in the form of a check for $55,000 to support students attending Kentucky’s independent colleges and universities through AIKCU’s Named Scholars Program. Gil Fleek, UPS Employee Relations Manager for the Kentucky District and driver Mark Walston presented the check to a group of AIKCU member presidents at the Association’s Frankfort headquarters.
The grant to AIKCU is part of the UPS Foundation’s support of independent colleges throughout the United States through its UPS Education Endowment Fund. The fund is managed and distributed by the Foundation on Independent Higher Education (FIHE). The UPS Foundation and FIHE have distributed more than $42 million from the fund to state independent college associations since 1975.
“UPS is proud of our support to our nation’s independent colleges and universities and the work they do in preparing our nation’s future leaders,” said Evern Cooper Epps, President of the UPS Foundation in Atlanta, upon announcing this year’s distribution of more than $1.7 million in scholarships to independent colleges nationwide.
AIKCU will distribute the UPS contribution directly to member institutions. One student at each institution will be designated a UPS Scholar and will receive a scholarship of $2750 during the 2006-07 school year. UPS Scholars are selected by the institutions on the basis of financial need and academic achievement.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that the UPS Foundation continues to support independent college and university students in Kentucky and throughout the country,” said AIKCU President Gary S. Cox. “Financial aid is vital to so many of our students. The support of donors like UPS can make all the difference in these students’ lives.”
UPS Named Scholar Ryann Mathers, from Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, certainly agrees. “My family has always struggled financially, and paying for college was going to be a large hurdle. Thankfully, I got enough federal grants and scholarships to attend the school of my choice, Thomas More College,” she wrote.
But then Ryann’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. “I had signed up to do work-study here on campus to cover the last $1200 I owed to the school, but with my mother’s sudden illness, I was never able to follow through on getting a job….My future at Thomas More College was in danger…,” she continued. “This scholarship has taken so much weight off of my shoulders, and so much stress away from my family at a time of such hardship. I am deeply grateful.”
Non-traditional student Chasity Crepps of Bardstown is also grateful for her UPS Named Scholarship. The married mother of two is in her first year of St. Catharine College’s nursing program. “My family and I have sacrificed a great deal financially so that I could return to college and pursue my dreams of becoming a nurse,” said Chasity. “Being offered such an exceptional award has definitely alleviated many of my financial concerns.”
With 22,225 employees in Kentucky, UPS is one of the largest employers in Kentucky. UPS has 18,398 employees in the Louisville area, home to the corporation’s main domestic air hub and the UPS airline. The UPS airline currently has a fleet of 284 planes, which makes it the 8th largest airline in the world.
To learn more about UPS’s commitment to supporting a wide range of scholarship programs that ensure students have the opportunity to pursue higher education, visit http://www.community.ups.com/education/scholarships.html.
The AIKCU Named Scholars program allows foundations, corporations, and other donors to directly support students at all twenty of Kentucky’s nonprofit, independent colleges and universities through a single contribution. To learn more about the AIKCU Named Scholars program, visit http://www.aikcu.org/scholars.cfm.
