Helping students succeed

Michael and Karla Mohrman use matching funds to create a scholarship for K-State engineering students.

Michael Mohrman believes that students who attend Kansas State University have great talent, but due to financial restraints a diploma is not easily attained for many of them. With this scholarship he and his wife, Karla, hope it will help students graduate and have successful careers. Michael has some great memories from his time at K-State, and most of them are based on the friendships he made with his roommates, classmates and professors. In and out of the classroom he had a good experience with the educators who assisted him throughout his college years and inspired him to learn and achieve more. Michael is especially grateful for Charles Burton, a professor in the College of Engineering who just retired in 2017 after 47 years of teaching. Charles also served as Michael’s mentor, as well as a mentor to many others.

Michael and Karla decided to give back to K-State because they want students to be successful and to also have the chance to collect great memories like Michael did. They took advantage of the scholarship matching funds provided by Carl and Mary Ice to create their own K-State Family Scholarship for College of Engineering students.

Through the K-State Family Scholarship Program, new gifts of $30,000 are matched with $30,000 from the seed fund, for a total gift of $60,000. $10,000 goes into an expendable fund, making $2,000 scholarships available to be awarded to students immediately. The remaining $50,000 goes into the endowment, ensuring future generations of Wildcats will receive scholarships as well.

“Your investment in the students of Kansas State will yield a phenomenal return,” Michael said. “Our students are bright and will out work their peers in every industry. They clearly understand that their success and self-worth are based on hard work and the ability to work as a team.”

“K-State’s endowment is not large enough for the university to enroll and graduate every student with great potential. Scholarships are needed to bridge this gap,” Michael said. “Those who have the ability to help close the gap have a responsibility to do so. It is how responsible citizens help make our world a better place. It is how we make K-State a better university. “

Learn more about how you can take advantage of matching opportunities through the K-State Family Scholarship Program at ksufoundation.org/family, or contact John Morris, senior vice president of development, at johnm@ksufoundation.org or 785-775-2007.

This gift supports Innovation and Inspiration: The Campaign for Kansas State University to raise $1.4 billion to propel Kansas State University toward becoming a top 50 public research university by 2025.

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