WILDCAT WELL-BEING

K-State students, staff and faculty utilize services at Cats’ Cupboard. Anne Weese (below) helps student-athletes thrive.

TRANSFORMiNG WiLDCAT WELL-BEiNG

Charlie and Debbie Morrison invest in student wellness at K-State

BY MARISA LARSON ’93, ’16, KSU FOUNDATION PHOTOS COURTESY OF KSU FOUNDATION

Juggling school and work. Paying for tuition, books, housing, food and other necessities. Participating in career-building activities. These pressures, and more, weigh on college students. Charlie ’90 and Debbie Morrison remember well the stresses and pressures they felt as undergraduates at Kansas State University. Now successful alumni, they have given $10.2 million to K-State to invest in a variety of student well-being initiatives. Having received this transformational gift in spring 2021, K-State has started putting those funds to use, and an impact is already beginning to be felt across campus.

Kathleen Hatch is the inaugural Morrison Family AVP for student well-being.

FOCUSING ON STUDENT WELL-BEING

Sept. 20, 2021, Kathleen Hatch set foot on the K-State campus as its first-ever Morrison Family associate vice president for student well-being. This position was created with the funds the Morrisons gifted K-State.

“Kathleen will be identifying ways to increase participation in existing wellbeing programs and services, evaluating what programs are working and where improvements are needed, and looking for collaborative opportunities both within and outside Student Life to offer students more opportunities to increase their sense of well-being,” said Thomas Lane, vice president for student life and dean of students. “Her efforts will help foster a culture of well-being at K-State that connects students to the right resources at the right time and in ways that work for them.”

Energy is high on campus to bring change as society is growing and adapting due to the global pandemic, and Hatch is excited to build on that feeling. “COVID-19 has disrupted all patterns and so this is a good moment, as patterns are being reestablished, to focus on well-being as an essential element to advance learning, persistence and student success,” Hatch said. “The fragility of the human experience has been made visible, and these are new strategies, at an institutional level, to create a chance to strengthen and elevate the beautiful K-State character and extended family.”

STUDENT-ATHLETE WELL-BEING

Charlie and Debbie Morrison also invested in K-State’s student-athletes with a gift to help create space and programming for mental health and wellness services.

“The gift from the Morrisons has allowed us to offer a paid practicum counselor position, allowing more athletes to receive mental health care while contributing to essential training in the field of mental health in athletics,” said Anne Weese, director of mental wellness and sports psychology for K-State Athletics. “We have also been able to purchase the Therapy Assistance Online Connect program for our athletes, offering 24/7 support for our athletes in a self-paced, private way. These funds have given more access to resources for our studentathletes. The future of the mental wellness and sport psychology department is bright because of this generous gift. Our next steps hopefully include a second full-time position and expanding our resource library for athletes across a variety of topics, from sport performance to general wellbeing and literature targeting mental health concerns.”

CATS’ CUPBOARD

For nearly five years, the Cats’ Cupboard — K-State’s food pantry — has provided food and essential personal items for K-State students, faculty and staff. Even through the pandemic, pantry staff and volunteers made sure people were able to get what they needed. Generous donors have made sure this service persists on campus. The Morrisons’ gift, endowing the full-time director position, gave the Cats’ Cupboard much-needed financial stability.

“This generous gift provides the flexibility to shift funding priorities,” said Shelly Williams ’14, Morrison Family director of Cats’ Cupboard. “With this endowed leadership position, Cats’ Cupboard expanded professional staff to help provide direct resources (e.g. food distribution, as well as case management) to address the ever-expanding challenges related to food security.”

CARING FOR WILDCATS

A passion to serve others drives the Morrisons’ philanthropy and volunteer work. Charlie and Debbie hope that with these initiatives in place at K-State, students will have access to the help they need. “Our gifts are to help students who are struggling, which is all students at some point. College is a big life transition, with stresses and pressure,” said the Morrisons. “These investments will provide students access to the assistance they need, while maintaining their dignity without scrutiny. The K-State family supported us when we needed it, so we are paying it forward.”

Shelly Williams ’14, Morrison family director of Cats’ Cupboard, celebrates the donation of can openers.

THE MORRISON FAMILY GIFT:

• Creates the Morrison Center for Student Well-Being • Hired the Morrison Family associate vice president for student well-being • Named and endowed the position of Morrison Family director of

Cats’ Cupboard • Focuses on student-athlete well-being • Establishes a scholarship for first-generation students in the College of Business

Charlie and Debbie Morrison, with their family, support student well-being.