Slideshow: Chancellor’s Named Scholarship Reception

The stage of the Weidner Center was packed Oct. 4 on the occasion of the Chancellor’s Named Scholarship Reception. The annual event brings together the UW-Green Bay student recipients of named scholarships and the community philanthropists who make the awards possible.

Students took turns displaying “appreciation” messages as they posed with their respective donors prior to the program

Speakers during the event included UW-Green Bay Chancellor Tom Harden; Jeanne Stangel, interim assistant chancellor for university advancement; donor Kate Meuuwsen; and student Sarah Wanek, recipient of Prast Family Scholarship.

The fall 2013 gathering was the largest on record. Contributing to the big turnout was a banner year for scholarships. Stangel explained that nearly four dozen new scholarships totaling more than $1.6 million in endowment contributions have been created in the last 16 months.

The flurry of philanthropic activity was sparked largely by a $500,000 leadership challenge gift directed by brothers Rick, Dick and Chuck Baer from the sunsetting L.G. Wood Foundation. The brothers said they chose the UW-Green Bay scholarship fund because the university was a favorite of their grandfather, businessman L.G. Wood, and their parents, Frederick and Patricia Baer. The gift provided a dollar-for-dollar match for all news gifts earmarked for student scholarships.

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