Brighter Opportunities for Scholarship and Study Abroad

Brighter Opportunities for Scholarship and Study Abroad

Thanks to a generous $5 million gift from alumni Robert Kopecky ‘72, more students will be able to afford to come to K and take advantage of the College’s immersive study abroad experiences. The gift will go towards establishing the Ervin J. and Violet A. Kopecky Endowed Scholarship Fund, the Robert J. Kopecky ’72 Endowed Study Abroad Fund, as well as supporting other study abroad funding, current-use scholarships and the Kalamazoo College Fund. 

“Through my life after leaving Kalamazoo College, I have had an ever-increasing appreciation for the value of liberal arts education,” said Kopecky. “I wanted to help the College make that educational opportunity available to students with limited economic resources and to ensure that all students have the opportunity to participate fully in the study abroad program, which is such an essential part of the K College experience.” 

President Jorge G. Gonzalez noted that endowed funds such as these can open up transformative opportunities for students. “Our goal as an institution is for talented students to be able to choose K regardless of their financial need, and for students to be able to participate fully in all aspects of K’s experiential education,” said Gonzalez. “We could not be more grateful to Bob, whose generous gift will be opening doors for students for generations to come.” 

Read the full story on Kopecky’s donation 

If you would like to make even more opportunities possible for current and future generations of K students, please make a gift online or contact Andy Miller, Associate Vice President for Development, at 269.337.7327 or Andy.Miller@kzoo.edu.

Brighter Opportunities for Fiona Holmes ’22

Brighter Opportunities for Fiona Holmes ’22

Fiona Holmes ’22 is thankful for financial support she received through the David E. Barclay Endowed Scholarship in History: “The wonderful history professors at K are brilliant teachers and serve as mentors and sources of inspiration for their students. This scholarship will help me afford my final year at K, and for that, I am incredibly grateful.”

Professors Emeriti David Strauss and John Wickstrom were the driving forces behind the fundraising initiative to create this scholarship. They described the purpose of the scholarship as supporting K students who demonstrate exemplary capacity for and commitment to scholarly work in the history department. Their motivation for creating the Barclay Endowed Scholarship was to both signal K’s tradition of excellence in history by undergraduates—past, present and future—and also honor Barclay’s extraordinary career in an appropriate fashion.

Read the full story on the David E. Barclay Endowed Scholarship in History

Fiona Holmes '22
Fiona Holmes ’22
Professor Emeritus David Barclay.
Professor Emeritus David Barclay

If you would like to support K history students like Fiona and give in honor of Professor Barclay, please make a gift online to the David E. Barclay Endowed Scholarship in History or contact Andy Miller, Executive Director of Development, at 269.337.7327 or Andy.Miller@kzoo.edu.