rising to distinction
A Million More Reasons to Support Falcon Scholars
Meet the Donors Who Created the
UWRF’s signature scholarship program, Falcon Scholars, received a substantial boost when five donors joined forces to help create a new Falcon Scholars Endowment, offering a combined $1,000,000 in matching gifts. This generous match will allow the first $1,000,000 in new gifts to the endowment to be matched 1:1. “One million dollars in matching funds for a school the size of UWRiver Falls is really quite incredible,” said Chris Mueller, assistant chancellor of University Advancement and UWRF Foundation president. “This significant investment in our students makes UWRF an even more special place to be.” Each year, 80 incoming freshmen with high academic potential are competitively selected as Falcon Scholars and receive a $1,000 per year, four-year scholarship funded by donors. In their junior or senior year, each Falcon Scholar also receives a $2,000 stipend, provided from student differential tuition, to be used for undergraduate research or study aboard. This combination of support is unique in higher education. “The partnership between our students and our donors in supporting Falcon Scholars is what makes this program so unique,” said Chancellor Dean Van Galen. “The investment by so many donors is having a significant impact on UWRF.” Falcon Scholars has also been impacting retention rates on campus. Falcon Scholar freshmen return for their sophomore year at an 89 percent rate compared to 76 percent for the entire freshmen class. To the students, however, Falcon Scholars mainly means recognition. For senior Moriah Main, receiving the Falcon Scholar award was the difference in her decision to attend UWRF. “I wasn’t sure if I would even attend college, but having the opportunity to become a Falcon Scholar created the opportunity for me. As a first-generation student, the support system provided through the Falcon Scholars Office, the faculty and the staff has helped me achieve at a high level as a student,” she said.
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Greg and Donnette Wheelock The seed for giving back was planted in a Stratton Hall mailbox in 1980, where sophomore Donnette Diers found a receipt saying her tuition and expenses for the following two quarters were paid in full. An anonymous donor had contacted UWRF to find out the exact amount Donnette owed, then paid her bill. “What an amazing thing it was knowing someone believed so much in my future, they would help pay for my college!” Donnette remarked. Donnette and her husband Greg, also a student at the time, were both firstgeneration college students, paying for it with a combination of jobs, oncampus work study positions, scholarships, financial aid, and student loans. The generosity of that anonymous donor so impacted the couple that they began donating to UWRF as soon as they could after graduating. Over the years, they have established a named endowed scholarship, supported the Falcon Center project, and were the first to answer the Albrecht Challenge for Falcon Scholars when the program was created. As they look back on their time at UWRF and reflect on their success in life, they give much credit to their UWRF education and the professors who knew their students as well as their subjects, and were willing to provide individualized attention in small classes. Knowing that many of today’s UW-River Falls students are still firstgeneration college students from lower- to middle-income families, Greg and Donnette are happy to assist other young people in succeeding. A few years ago, the Wheelocks discovered whom the anonymous donors were so they sent them a thank you letter, informing them how their gift had grown exponentially over the years as the Wheelocks went on to support education and UWRF in particular. “It is a privilege to share the results of our hard work and successful business by donating to help others get a good education,” Donnette said. Greg is happy to “pay it forward.” They challenge you to do the same!