Science & Outdoors
The recent bequest to the CNR will go towards scholarships for Treehaven TA's, as well as other opportunities for students.
CNR receives $1.2 million to benefit students
The Pointer
kbose675@uwsp.edu
Students studying in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will be provided with more scholarship and educational opportunities thanks to a $1.2 million gift from a rural Port Washington, Wis. couple.
The bequest came from Marion and John “Jack” Wilson, who have been described as nature lovers. According to friends, John Wilson was an avid fisherman and hunter. He died in 1994 and Marion Wilson passed away last May. Their gift bequest is one of the largest single gifts in the history of UW-SP, according to Chancellor Linda Bunnell.
The reason for the gift, however, is a bit of a mystery. The Wilsons’ will indicated that they were very familiar with the structure of the CNR and the scholarship committee and program, but little more is known about their generosity.
According to Christine Thomas, dean of the CNR, the will directs the gift to be divided in half. Both halves will be invested with the principal of one half going to benefit scholarships.
“This will add 20 to 50 annual scholarship awards for worthy students each year in perpetuity, plus provide funds for critical needs that cannot be met with state dollars,” said Thomas.
Thomas and her colleagues are proposing that half of the scholarship money would go to incoming freshmen. They also are proposing funding for teaching assistants at Treehaven’s summer camp.
“We have been working to endow scholarships to supplement the wages of the 11 TA’s who work at summer camp. We have currently achieved endowments for four to five of them,” said Thomas. “What this will mean is that every TA at Treehaven will get paid for their six week commitment and will receive a scholarship to help them with the tuition for the six weeks they spend as a student there.”
A proposal has also been put in place to commit the balance of the scholarship fund to students who participate in the European summer seminar.
“In a year, when the stock market does an average gain, we would have $24,000 to commit to scholarships. This is approximately a 15 percent increase in our scholarships,” said Thomas.
The rest of the bequest will be used by Dean Thomas with the approval of the Foundation Board to benefit the CNR. This money will go toward student travel, faculty needs, facilities upgrades and other needs that the college is not able to cover with the state budget.
Not only will the gift benefit current students, but it will assist the CNR in enlisting more students interested in studying at the nation’s largest undergraduate natural resources program.
“It will help us recruit and retain excellent students, and keep our natural resources programs among the best in the country,” said Thomas.
The university and Dean Thomas are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Wilsons.
“This generosity is very important to us and we are very thankful,” said Thomas.
The bequest comes during a time of economic hardship, but thanks to the kindness of Marion and John Wilson, the CNR will be able to give deserving students greater opportunities than they normally would have been afforded while studying at UW-SP.
