Students to Support the #WestminsterFund on #GivingTuesday, Nov. 29

Read below to find out why students plan to support the #WestminsterFund on #GivingTuesday, November 29, with the High 5 for Giving Tuesday campaign – give $5 and get a high 5! President Akande will match student donations on #GivingTuesday, dollar for dollar. (More info.)

Erin Perry ’17 (above, far right)

The Westminster Fund has been meaningful in my life because it has shaped and transformed my entire Westminster experience – fostering opportunities for students to create loving communities around shared interests, like the Center for Faith & Service and EcoHouse; supporting incredible, devoted faculty members who are the only friends you’ll really want and fangirl over; and helping to cultivate a campus culture that both encourages and welcomes diversity of idea and identity. The Westminster Fund allows us to be a unique community in the middle of the Midwest that has a heart for interfaith dialogue, the environment, individuals of every background and identity, and how each of these intersect to make us a greater, more global community.

Ella Leslie ’17

The Westminster Fund has been a valuable Westminster contribution because it enables the key features that make Westminster truly great. My Westminster experience has been shaped by the valuable relationships I’ve formed with my professors and advisors the past three and a half years. Because of these outstanding people I feel truly excited to grow up one day if it means I get to lead lives like theirs. The Westminster Fund helps to give these folks the recognition they deserve and bring like-minded individuals to our institution as they continue to empower our campus’s students to achieve great things.

Mallory Hubbard ’17

The Westminster Fund provides opportunities for students not only in the classroom, but also beyond the classroom setting. I’ve had a unique experience here at Westminster College that no other institution would have been able to provide. I was honored with a scholarship to enroll in an intense preparatory course that prepared me for the entrance exam to medical school. I have also been blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Take A Friend Home Program allowing me to travel across the globe to Mongolia. Both of these experiences mark milestones in my journey to fulfilling my dreams. Without the Westminster Fund neither of these things would be possible and that is why I plan to donate $5 on November 29th.

Amanda Kiso ’17

The Westminster fund has allowed me to do many things on campus that I never pictured doing, both academically and athletically. I have had the opportunity to present two of my experiments at the Undergraduate Scholars Forum. More so, the fund has provided me with four years of volleyball. This opportunity has taught me so much, allowed me to grow in so many ways, and helped make me who I am today. Without this fund, I would not have had the experiences I have had so far in college.

Madison Rybak ’19

The Westminster Fund has helped me academically inside and outside of the classroom. Not only am I able to receive a top education without a financial burden on my shoulders, but I am also able to participate in professional opportunities off campus through my professors and the Career Development Services. I was able to travel to Rwanda and Tanzania with one of the most influential professors on campus, Dr. Hansen, where he introduced me to a new perspective of the world that I will forever remember and use in the healthcare system. This life-changing opportunity would not of been available had the Westminster Fund not supported Dr. Hansen as a professor at Westminster.

I also received the opportunity to complete an internship with Senator Bob Onder at the capital last semester and with the help of career services, this internship turned into an independent study. This independent study lead me to write a research paper with Senator, Dr. Onder that is in the process of being published. This allowed me to understand the powerful influence legislature policy has on the healthcare system and how I could be affected by these policies as a future physician. Both of these opportunities would not of been possible without the Westminster Fund supporting both our professors and our Career Development Services.

It is these types of opportunities that I will look back on when behaving and making decisions in the medical field so I am very grateful for the Westminster Fund and its influence on my developing career. Consider sparing a few dollars to donate to the WF so you and other students on campus can receive additional opportunities to develop careers and see the world in a new light.