Scholarship, faculty endowment funds established at Tabor College
A $50,000 endowed scholarship and a $50,000 endowment for faculty development have been established at Tabor College due to the generosity of Dr. Wilmer and Esther Harms, North Newton.
Two students will benefit from the Wilmer and Esther Harms Endowed Scholarship this year: Michael Bookless, a freshman from Hillsboro, and Jarod Richardson, a junior from Imperial, Neb.
Each student will receive $1,250 a year.
In 1985, the couple decided to develop a charitable trust and allow their children to transfer it to Tabor College as a gift from their estate.
"About a year ago," said Wilmer, "we decided, 'Why wait until we're gone?' We might as well enjoy seeing it being used by the students now."
For Richardson, who comes from a family of seven, this scholarship will allow him to continue his education at Tabor College.
"It is a true God-given blessing that God places people in positions to help young adults like myself," said Richardson. "It charges my faith when I am blessed like this."
Students are chosen by meeting three criteria: be a full-time student at Tabor College; have need for financial assistance as determined by the college, state,and federal assistance guidelines; and exhibit high moral standards of honesty, integrity, and self-discipline.
According to Dr. Lawrence Ressler, vice president of academics and student development, the current plan is to use $2,500 of the endowed fund for professional development of faculty this year in targeted ways that advance the strategic goals of the institution.
Four grants of $500 each will be awarded to faculty using a competitive proposal process. The division chairs and the academic dean will select the recipients, who must be willing to attend a Global Learning Conference in Wichita next month.
"The purpose of the grant is to explore possibilities and report on what was discovered," said Ressler. "The options include finding ways to connect Tabor students to students in other places, to bring experts from around the world to Tabor using technology, to connect Tabor students who are at some other place in the world with education taking place at Tabor, to extend the education of Tabor to other places in the world including missions posts and missionaries, to support and collaborate with educational institutions in developing countries, to use technology to enhance Tabor study abroad and missions trips."
Grant recipients will be announced Friday.
Wilmer, a 1951 alum of Tabor College, is a retired ophthalmologist, family physician, lecturer, and Mennonite historian with three published books to his name, all of which are in their second printings, including "The Odyssey of Escapes From Russia" and "The Saga of Anna K." Wilmer, a charter member of the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies and chairman of its Board of Directors since 1979, has also served on the Tabor College Board of Directors.
