A few dozen Fayetteville community leaders got together on Tuesday for a great cause. It’s a cause that has positively influenced the lives of thousands of college students over the past 60-plus years, and a few of those students shared their appreciation on Tuesday.
A few dozen Fayetteville community leaders got together on Tuesday for a great cause. It’s a cause that has positively influenced the lives of thousands of college students over the past 60-plus years, and a few of those students shared their appreciation on Tuesday.
“Without your help, I wouldn’t be in college right now,” Methodist University senior Kobe Praylow said during the MU Loyalty Campaign Kick-Off event Tuesday. “You have helped me fulfill a dream… given me an opportunity to get a high-quality liberal arts education that I can use to pursue my career.”
This was the 67th-Annual Loyalty Campaign kick-off event that brings together community leaders from the school system, banks, non-profits, businesses of all types and sizes. MU was charted in 1956 by a group of community leaders who saw the value in a four-year, liberal-arts education here in Fayetteville, and from that day to this one, the focus at MU has been on helping to enable all students the opportunity to obtain a college education.
“I’m the first in my family to go to college,” said Kimeesha Whitlock (pictured above), a junior who is studying Nursing at MU. “Through your help with scholarships, MU has given me the opportunity to have this life-changing college experience.”
These 50-plus community leaders will lead the charge through the end of February, calling and seeking donations that will be used exclusively for scholarships at MU. As MU has an $88.5-million impact on the economy in Cumberland County each year, these gifts have a powerful impact on these students’ lives.
“None of us here would be able to call Methodist home if it weren’t for these generous gifts,” said Ryan Kimble , a junior studying Business Administration and a member of MU’s PGA Golf Management program. “When I got the news of the scholarship the Loyalty Campaign was able to give me, I knew then I was going to be able to chase the dream and career I truly wanted… MU has a 100% job placement rate in my program.”
With 97 percent of its students receiving financial aid, MU offers the quality of a private school education at a similar cost as the big public schools. In-coming freshmen at MU receive approximately $30,000 in aid on average, and MU offers more than $24 million in scholarships annually.
“Methodist University is a great asset to our community,” said MU Board of Trustees Chair Mac Healey, “and you (the community leader volunteers) are a great asset because of what you do to help these students.”
For the opportunity to support students through Loyalty Campaign scholarships, visit Methodist.edu/giving.