For 20 years, the student-led philanthropy K-State Proud has built an emergency safety net to keep students at K-State
By Marisa Larson ’93, ’16, KSU Foundation
Imagine working hard to earn a college degree, then life throws a hurdle that knocks you off course before you can graduate. Sadly, this is a fate many K-State students face.
But 20 years ago, two students launched a program that has kept more than 1,000 students on course — K-State Proud and its Student Opportunity Awards.
UP FROM FAILURE
In 2006, Matt King ’07 and Emily Besler (Scott) ’07 ran for student body president and vice president. They lost.
“Emily and I wanted to stay involved on campus,” King said. “One of the important causes we saw on campus that needed to be addressed was students falling through the financial aid cracks.”
And the timing was perfect, as the KSU Foundation was in the midst of its Changing Lives capital campaign. Scott was interning at the foundation and felt inspired to find a way to engage the student body.
“You couldn’t just talk to people about philanthropy,” Scott said. “They had to experience it. They had to buy in. We had to make it feel like it was something they were a part of, and that it was available to all students. So that’s how K-State Proud and Student Opportunity Awards were born.”
K-STATE PROUD 101
K-State Proud started as a one-week campaign organized by the Student Foundation — a consortium of student philanthropists within the KSU Foundation — to raise money for Student Opportunity Awards, which deliver temporary financial assistance for K-Staters facing extreme financial need.
King and Scott had funded their student body presidential campaign by selling T-shirts and were successful in raising money. So they suggested using the same model for K-State Proud.
But K-State Proud is about more than owning a shirt. Ever since that first year, wearing the K-State Proud shirt shows you want to help lift up students in need.
A parent loses their job. A fire consumes your laptop and textbooks. Medical bills eat up all your money. These are just a few scenarios faced by students who received Student Opportunity Awards, which have been as large as $8,784 and as small as just $70. It’s a small price to pay to keep students at K-State.
K-State Proud has won national accolades for being a successful student-run philanthropy that benefits fellow students. The back of the shirts state “Students helping students,” and that’s exactly what it does.
STUDENTS HELPING STUDENTS
“I remember counting every single dollar I had, calculating how much money I could spend on food until my next paycheck. I remember paying off my car but walking around Manhattan as much as possible because I couldn’t afford gas,” recounts Toni Owens ’11, ’17, who earned two bachelor’s degrees from K-State and went on to get a master’s and a doctorate in human and community development.
“No student should have to go through college that way, having to choose between their livelihood and their education,” she said. “As a humble and grateful former recipient of the K-State Proud Student Opportunity Award, I am living proof that a little goes a long way!”
That first campaign in 2006 hoped to raise $3,000. They blew that goal away and raised $63,000. Since then, K-State Proud has raised more than $2 million and helped more than 1,000 students stay at K-State.
INSPIRING PHILANTHROPY
While helping students with emergency funding is the primary goal of K-State Proud, students who work on the campaign also gained experience that has lasting impact.
“I remember walking through the Union and seeing the table with students leading this campaign,” said Sarah (Swenson) Dwyer ’14, a former Student Foundation member. “I was blown away by the whole concept that young people could donate and help other people in that way. It felt like something you do when you’re older, but here we were being empowered to help others.”
Sarah met her husband, Casey Dwyer ’13, at K-State and both worked on the K-State Proud campaign.
“Proud embodies that spirit of altruism — caring for other people and making sure that you’re doing everything in your power to make their lives easier and better,” Casey said. “What makes Proud unique and special is the ownership that’s given to college students at the beginning of their career, sparking the trajectory of giving throughout their whole life.”
The numbers show that Casey is right. Forty-five percent of students who donated to K-State Proud still give to K-State as alumni, while only 16% of those who did not give to Proud now contribute to K-State.
THE POWER OF MANY
Students may wonder how donating a small amount — $25 for a K-State Proud T-shirt — makes a difference.
“One thing we were trying to teach people is that you don’t have to wait until you’re almost retired to donate. And there are a lot of ways to give back in meaningful ways that don’t look like a name on a building,” Scott said. “I think that K-State Proud really helps you see the power of giving as a group — and that you don’t have to be a millionaire to matter.”
Scott and King never imagined that their idea of using T-shirts to fund student support would last more than one year, let alone 20. But endure it did, and it’s touched the lives of all students involved — those who worked on fundraising and those who were lifted by emergency money.
“There are so many students who have made it a part of their identity. They’ve gotten jobs based on what they’ve done with K-State Proud,” Scott said. “Or students have stayed in school and been able to finish their degrees because of K-State Proud. I don’t think we could have ever imagined the impact it was going to have.”
BY THE NUMBERS
About Student Opportunity Awards
- 14 awards made the first semester (fall 2007)
- 151: Most awards in one year (2019-2020 academic year (COVID))
- 1,000th award given in 2023
Students show their Wildcat pride by wearing their K-State Proud shirts to the annual K-State Proud basketball game.
K-State Proud volunteers share with students how a donation can help keep their fellow students at K-State through Student Opportunity Awards.