Montevallo, Ala. – Members of the UM family joined together on Wed. April 6 to share their appreciation for the University of Montevallo’s scholarship donors during an annual Scholarship Appreciation Luncheon.
Scholarship recipients at the luncheon were able to meet with and personally thank the donors that generously provide funding to support their college education.
Financial support is something that senior Kadejia Cheatom says has tremendously helped as she has worked towards earning her college degree; it has also provided peace of mind during difficult times. “After my father passed away I was able to rest assured I would still be able to earn my degree because of my scholarship,” Cheatom, a recipient of the Miriam Collins Professional Development Fund Scholarship, stated. Cheatom plans to graduate with a degree in kinesiology and eventually serve as a physical therapist in the United States Air Force.
“The University of Montevallo is a great place to become a whole human being,” said guest speaker and UM alumnus Mike Meadows ’79. Meadows and his wife Sue established the John and Bettie Meadows Scholarship to honor his parents in 2003 and have also bequeathed the Sue Meadows Art Scholarship for future UM art students.
“The University trains the mind and cultivates the soul…and no matter what students do after graduation they are still UM graduates and will all be fine alumni,” Meadows stated.
Tim Lupinacci ’88 closed the program by presenting the University with a gift to endow the Katrina Bethune Collins Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship will directly benefit students from Birmingham City Schools and is named in memory of Lupinacci’s former coworker and fellow UM graduate, Katrina Bethune Collins ‘95. Sherman Collins and Mary Jean Williams Bethune, Collins’ husband and mother, were also present for the presentation.
“Katrina was one of the kindest, gentlest, loving and joy-filled people I have known. Not only is this an important contribution to scholarship funding at the University of Montevallo…it is a very personal remembrance of someone dear to me,” Lupinacci stated.
The annual Scholarship Appreciation Luncheon is designed to provide donors who have funded a scholarship the opportunity to meet the students whose lives have been touched by those gifts, while allowing the students an opportunity to express their gratitude in a meaningful way.
Scholarships are a vital source of support for recognizing and helping students, and the University of Montevallo offers scholarships based on a variety of student accomplishments and needs.
Scholarship funding is a priority need for the University to continue its mission to provide an affordable, high quality liberal arts education. Annual scholarship disbursements from the Foundation total more than $500,000. Gifts endowing new scholarship funds or supporting annual scholarship funds increase the financial aid available to students at the University.
Please contact University Advancement at 205-665-6215 for more information on this wonderful opportunity to enrich students’ lives.
About The University of Montevallo
The University of Montevallo seeks to be unique in higher education in Alabama, by providing students from throughout the state an affordable, geographically accessible, “small college” public higher educational experience of high quality. Settled within an atmosphere of national historic beauty and offering a tradition of innovative cultural expression, we seek to provide professional programs supported by a broad base of arts and sciences that are designed for intellectual and personal growth in the pursuit of meaningful employment and responsible, informed citizenship.