The Next Step
Kepple Endowment Takes Juniata into International Leadership
By John Wall
media relations director Photography: J.D. Cavrich
I
t’s ridiculously simple when you think about it, but few colleges and universities have done it before. Yes, many places offer their students travel grants or scholarships to enable a study-abroad opportunity that is just out of financial reach. But who offers international students travel grants to come to the United States?
Juniata
Juniata. And we fund both international and domestic students from the same endowment. Smart, no? Yes. This is the basic vision behind the recently established Thomas and Patricia Kepple International Opportunities Endowment, a fund that will provide financial support for students who are studying abroad as well as for international students who want to come to Juniata for their education. The $1 million endowment is the result of gifts from more than 200 fervent supporters of Juniata international education, and Tom Kepple, Juniata’s recently retired president. Starting in the 2013-2014 academic year, the new endowment can fund some of the expenses (mostly travel costs) for study abroad, conferences or internships for both international and domestic students. The fund complements
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a previous program called the Dr. Chumpol Phornprapha Experiential Learning Travel Grants, which for the last three years has allowed domestic non-traditional students to study abroad or delivered funding for other students who wanted to study in non-traditional international locations. The grants were named for Chumpol Phornprapha ’65, chairman of Thitikorn PLC in Thailand and a 1996 honorary degree recipient. “What this new endowment does is make Juniata study abroad an experience anybody can do and develop it as a commonplace activity,” explains Jenifer Cushman, dean of international programs. “A lot of institutions claim that they make international experiences commonplace, but we keep that promise better than most other colleges and universities.” The Kepple endowment builds the Chumpol gift and provides the
“A lot of institutions claim that they make international experiences commonplace, but we keep that promise better than most other colleges and universities.” —Jenifer Cushman, dean of international programs