Story Category: Benefactors

“I don’t think I can share the true impact Shippensburg had on my life if I did not divulge some of my high school experience. I graduated with under a 3.0 GPA. I failed a class, and earned Ds and Cs in others. During my senior year I had so much turmoil in my life that I ran away from home. For some, this could have been the end of the story,” says Abigail Brumback ’15.

Shippensburg University changed the entire trajectory of her life. She graduated with a 3.85 GPA, swam four years for Coach Verge, served as President of the International Honors Society in Education, worked as a writing fellow and a tutor in the writing center, was a phonathon caller and manager for the SU Foundation, was involved in community service activities, presented research at the regional, national, and international levels, and published writing. But most importantly she says, “I found myself and who I wanted to be.”

Abigail currently teaches senior English at William Penn High School in the city of York. But that’s not all. She earned a Masters in English, and completed a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate from the Graduate School of Education from the University of Pennsylvania. In December 2018, she will graduate with a Masters in Urban School Leadership with a Principal Certification from Temple University, continuing her quest for equity for students in urban school districts. As she concurrently completes a Masters in Multicultural Education, she will be begin a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership in January 2019.

“My life would be nothing like it is without the resources that were provided to me through generous donations from members of the family I call Shippensburg alumni. The Raider family has provided me with so much, and as I continue to grow, I too continue to give back to Shippensburg.”

When Brian Heckler was a student at Shippensburg University in the early 1980s, his education was made financially possible through scholarships and work study funding. As an accounting major, he received The Crouse Business Scholarship, which helped him to focus on his education and graduate summa cum laude from the College of Business in 1984.

Brian never forgot the generosity of the Crouses and committed himself to return the favor for future students when he was financial able. The Brian L. Heckler Accounting Scholarship was awarded for the first time in the fall of 2018 to freshman accounting major Morgan Landman of Clear Spring, Maryland. After graduation, it didn’t take long for Brian’s  career to take off. He landed a job at Peat Marwick, Mitchell in Harrisburg and continued his career with KPMG LLP in Harrisburg, New York, and Chicago. He is the National Industry Sector leader for
KMPG’s Industrial Manufacturing Sector.

“There are still a lot of students out there like me—hardworking first-generation college students who are looking to better their lives—and we should support that. Ship has given me a life beyond my expectations, and I hope others can experience that.”

Retired public school teachers Ray and Suzanne Adams enjoyed their lengthy careers in math education. Ray taught at West Perry High School for 36 years, and Suzanne taught at the middle-school level in York, Upper Dauphin, and West Perry school districts for 32 years. Now that they are retired, they wanted others to benefit from their success. Ray said, “We’ve been very fortunate financially and decided that, with no children, we would seek out worthy charities to give our money to.”

As educators, it was natural for them to invest in students and their education. In 2014, they established the Raymond and Suzanne Adams Undergraduate Student/Faculty Research Endowment for Education. Now that the endowment has matured, it will be awarded for the first time in the Fall of 2018 to support student/faculty research in education.

The couple chose to support Shippensburg students because Ray received his bachelor’s degree from Ship in 1957 and his master’s in 1968. “Growing up, we were very poor, and I went to college with only the bare necessities covered. My hope is that with this endowment, students can enrich their education beyond the necessities and have opportunities to travel and conduct research.”

Ray describes teaching as “the best job you could have. I enjoyed working with the students. Once they graduated, they became my friends. Now we go golfing and hunting together.”
Thanks to the Adams’ generosity, students at Shippensburg have an easier road to achieving their dream careers in education.

Bill Rothman has understood the value of land since growing up on a 155-acre farm in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. After receiving a business degree from Penn State University in 1963, he earned his real estate license and launched a career that has spanned more than 50 years and three generations of Rothmans. Bill is founder and treasurer of RSR Realtors, central Pennsylvania’s largest locally owned and managed real estate firm.

Bill and his wife Sue, a 1964 graduate of Penn State, also appreciate the value of education. “Education is so important because it is a pathway to better opportunities in life,” said Sue. This belief led the Rothmans to establish the William F. and Susannah M. Rothman Scholarship in 2008 for students in the John L. Grove College of Business and to continue to give significantly to the scholarship.

The Rothman’s first introduction to Shippensburg was when Bill was asked to serve on the John L. Grove College of Business Advisory Board. Bill was impressed with Shippensburg from the beginning. “I was struck by the enthusiasm of everyone I met –administration, faculty and students.”

“We hate to hear of students leaving college with large debt,” Sue said. “We hope that this scholarship can help support students in the Harrisburg area to realize their dreams.” The Rothmans designated their scholarship for students in the three Dauphin County school districts including Harrisburg City, Steelton-Highspire and Bill’s alma mater, Central Dauphin.

Memorial Day weekend, 1969, Kevin’s father brought him to Central PA to fly fish for wild trout in the limestone spring creeks of Cumberland County. He grew up in the Reading, PA area and enjoyed fly fishing for wild brook trout in Willow Creek in Berks County, PA. They would make that drive many times, and Kevin eventually decided that he wanted to attend Shippensburg State College, so he could be near the spring creeks of the Cumberland Valley and some day perhaps enjoy a career in Central PA.

Kevin started at Ship in September of 1974 as a biology major. During his first semester, he had a chemistry lab that he really enjoyed and his professor, Dr. Thomas Schroeder, asked Kevin to consider taking a chemistry major’s chemistry lab. He graduated in 1978 with two majors, biology and chemistry, and began his career as a chemist at A.S. McCreath and Son, a small consulting firm in Harrisburg, PA. In 1981, he was hired as a chemist at AMP, Inc. in Harrisburg, PA. AMP Inc. was a large electrical connector company with many facilities in Central PA and a global presence. Kevin enjoyed working at AMP and later TE Connectivity from 1981 until his retirement in 2015. “I worked with people with degrees from MIT, Harvard, and Penn State, and the education I received at Ship was as good as any from these major universities. It’s a good value.”

Kevin established the Kevin R. Leibold STEM Scholarship for undergraduate students entering one of the STEM majors (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). “There are so many career opportunities in the STEM disciplines. Every company – from medicine to manufacturing – needs them. My Ship education served me well, and I hope that this endowment will enable others to realize their dreams.”