Student Fellowships

The Mert and Betty Cooper Fellowship

The Crawley Family Fellowship

The Grace Presbytery Fellowship

The Clifford J. and Mary K. Grum Fellowship

The Betty Wilson Jeffrey Fellowship

The Robert W.B. and Shirley Johnston Fellowship

The Robert W.B. and Shirley Johnston International Student Fellowship

The New Covenant International Fellowship

The Trull-Herlin Family Fellowship

The Elizabeth Currie Williams Fellowship

The Hugh H. and Nancy T. Williamson Fellowship

By Nancy Benson-Nicol

Merit scholar Kimberly Mendoza and her husband, Kayne, at their wedding in the Maclay Meditation Garden in May.

I’m feeling so blessed to be in Austin, Texas, to study … I can’t explain my gratitude enough,” exclaims Kimberly Mendoza Ramos, a candidate for the MDiv degree and recipient of the Mert and Betty Cooper Fellowship, during an online video call with donors Mert and Betty. “[The fellowship] opened so many doors … it is a testament to God’s grace through it all.”

Though she was reared in southern California, Kimberly was born in Henderson, Nevada, where her parents were instrumental in planting the First Filipino-American Presbyterian Church of Southern Nevada. Her father encouraged a teenaged Kimberly to consider preparation for ministry at Austin Seminary after he and their pastor returned from an Asian-Pacific church conference held at the Seminary. Kimberly recalls that he “raved about how great the professors were, how great the campus was, how friendly everyone was.” Years later, her undergraduate professors at Azusa-Pacific University would echo her father’s sentiments.

As Kimberly prayed for discernment, she recognized the voice of God revealing to her “the value of a quiet walk with the Lord.” Positioned on a “peacefully quiet campus, even next to all that is UT [The University of Texas at Austin],” Austin Seminary is, for her, the perfect fit. She adds, “everybody is so welcoming … we’re listening to God’s voice together, in community.” As for future plans? Blissfully, she shares her life with her new spouse, Kayne Ramos. The two were married on campus in the McCoy House Meditation Garden on April 24. (As Kayne now supports Kimberly in her seminary journey, he contemplates future ministry in The United Methodist Church.) Kimberly is on the path to enrolling as an Inquirer in the Presbytery of Nevada. Her current Supervised Practice in Ministry (SPM) internship is with Next Step Ministries, an organization that equips youth for mission partnerships. Her passion for this ministry leads her to consider writing curriculum for youth groups and churches. Teaching in the university setting compels her, along with her sense of God calling her to return to Henderson to serve her home church. Of the possibilities, she marvels, “There’s just SO MUCH!”

Mert and Betty Cooper reside in the Texas panhandle, in the small town of Canadian. Their relationship ith the Seminary began when he was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees, and, as Betty recalls, they were “inspired to be a part of the Austin Seminary family.”

CAs high-school sweethearts celebrating 58 years of marriage, they now enjoy retirement while also tending to their cattle ranch just north of town. Mert spent much of his professional career as a pastor—first, as a Methodist minister, then switching his denominational affiliation in the 1970s to Presbyterian—serving congregations throughout the region. Eventually, Mert shifted career paths into the world of business by partnering with his father-in-law. Betty is retired from her profession as a secondary education teacher. Their upbringings were centered in the church. Reared Methodist, Mert went on to graduate from Southern Methodist University’s Perkin’s School of Theology. Betty is a fourth generation ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with deep roots in First Presbyterian hurch of Canadian, where her grandparents (emigrating to the U.S. from Lebanon in 1912) made their church home. The couple earned their undergraduate degrees from McMurry University in Abilene. What moved them to establish an endowed fellowship at Austin Seminary? Mert was keen to find ways, beyond board membership, to serve the Seminary, and to “share [their] blessings.” They remember the days when Betty supported Mert’s seminary education by commuting to Dallas to teach high school, which was a common situation for spouses in “making ends meet.” Mert also served small churches while attending seminary to keep them both afloat financially. Betty recalls, “We took ourselves back to our seminary days; saw ourselves in that” and “wanted to make it comfortable for someone to attend without having to worry about the stresses of finances.” The Mert and Betty Cooper Fellowship provides merit-based scholarship aid in the form of full tuition, housing, and an allowance for books and other seminary expenses, to master of divinity degree students who demonstrate interest in and a strong promise vocationally for leadership in the church, exceptional academic achievement, and leadership ability. It lives through the hearts, hands, and minds of students—like Kimberly—who embody that promise.

The Reverend Nancy Benson-Nicol is Austin Seminary's development officer for greater Texas and New Mexico.