Story Category: Donors

Well thank you so much for having me tonight and thank you to the foundation for inviting to me say a few words.  I am truly humbled to be here, especially in this room surrounded by those who give back so much to Shippensburg.  For those who don’t know me, I’m Jon Moats – a 2010 grad from Shippensburg University.  I was a non-traditional student during my time at Ship meaning I wasn’t between the age of 18-21.  In 2000 I decided as a 17-year-old high school student to join the Army.  When I went into the Army we were largely at peace around the world.  9/11 had not happened yet.  I was stationed in Germany during 9/11 an event which would eventually lead to two tours in Iraq and an additional year of service than my original contract obligation.  When I got out in 2005, unlike most young people who are trying to get away from mom and dad after high school to go to college, I was trying stay close to home and spend time with family that I had missed so dearly for the last 5 years.

Shippensburg University immediately accepted me with open arms and I went all in on Shippensburg University.  I declared Finance as my major as a Freshman.  I was in the University Honors Program.  I was on the College of Business Student Advisory board.  I was the Vice President for Beta Gamma Sigma.  I was a student in the Investment Management Program which is a student run class of a real dollar portfolio now valued at over $200 thousand dollars.  I was a recipient of the Harold and Helen Crouse Scholarship.  I had the privilege of meeting Helen the year I received it before she passed away and in small way I’d like to think I’m a part of Harold and Helen’s legacy.

I graduated in 2010 and started my career at Volvo Construction Equipment where I had an internship at the time.  I stayed at Volvo until 2014 when I moved to Washington D.C. to attend Grad school at the George Washington University.  I graduated with my MBA from GW and married my wife Courtney who is here with me tonight in 2017.  I now work in Corporate Finance at Capital One in Tysons Corner Virginia and live not too far away in Aldie, Virginia.  I come back to interact with our great students as often as I can.   I’ve spoken to students at “welcome” Open Houses, Deans List receptions and the College of Business Foundations of Business Admin class.  I’m the Vice Chair of the Finance Advisory Council and come back to talk to our Investment Management Program students at least 3 times a year.  I’d probably just stand in the middle of campus and hand out stickers if they’d let me.

As I was thinking tonight about the answer to the question “why do I give back,” it occurred to me I don’t have a knock it out of the park answer to that other than this; Shippensburg University was a special place to me.  It IS a special place to me.  It’s different here.  It’s unique here.  There’s something in water here.  I’ve been to other Universities.  I have friends from Universities of all Divisions all over the country and none of them have a relationship with their Alma Mater like I do with mine.  If I can try to help make sure that some future Jon Moats get to enjoy that same specialness that I got to experience, well, that’s why I give back.  I think the people in this room understand that.  I thank you for that and I sincerely thank you for having me tonight.

“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.”

Shirley Marlene Lolus ’72m instilled the importance of education in her children, both her own and those she taught in the classroom. A native of Mechanicsburg, Shirley was a young married mother of two when she started college to pursue her desire to become a teacher. After seeing her husband off to work and putting her two young children on the school bus, she was a full-time student at nearby Messiah College and then returned home to get her children off the bus. It wasn’t easy, but it worked.

At the time, Messiah College did not offer a teaching degree but had an agreement with Shippensburg State College to provide student teaching for students in Messiah’s Behavioral Science program. Shirley was just three weeks into her student teaching assignment in Northern York School District when the district offered her a job upon completion of her training.

“I was in the right place at the right time. They needed a teacher, and they liked that I was older than the typical recent college graduate.” This began her twenty-one year career in Northern York School District that spanned from teacher to principal.

Shirley went on to earn her Master of Education degree from Shippensburg, principal certification from Western Maryland, and superintendent certification from Temple University.
Now, at age eighty, Shirley has found another way to communicate the importance of education. She has given multiple gifts to establish charitable gift annuities through the Shippensburg University Foundation. “I enjoy helping Shippensburg University students whenever I can,” she said, noting that her daughter earned her bachelor’s degree from Shippensburg.
“In addition to supporting the students, with a gift annuity, I get a tax deduction when I give the gift, I get income for life at a favorable tax rate, and the income is partially tax free. It’s a multiple-win situation however you view it.”

Shirley has lived in Florida since 1990 when her husband requested a transfer to the state where both their son and daughter were doing graduate studies. Now a widow, Shirley said, “We raised two good children who are contributing to society. For me, gift annuities are a safe and excellent place for good interest and lasting benefits. I recommend Shippensburg University Foundation

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.”

My name is Elizabeth Karper, and I’m a proud alum of Shippensburg University and the Wood Honors College. I graduated in 2017 with degrees in Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Currently I work as an IT Specialist in the Naval Supply Systems Command for the US Navy. I’m a member of the material management team, and I focus on supporting procurement for the Navy.

It’s hard to believe that just three years ago I was speaking to you all at this exact same event as a senior in college. I love this university so much I just can’t stay away for too long! But in all seriousness, I do care immensely for this university, its students, its faculty and staff, and its alumni and I was inspired by you all, so I decided to start paying it forward at a young age. I am a founding member of the Wood Honors College Advisory Council and have served since the fall of 2017. I hope to one day establish a scholarship for undergraduates as well as continue serving on university boards and councils.

I can say with 100% certainty that I am where I’m at in my life and career thanks in huge part to my benefactors in college. I received numerous scholarships and worked hard and became involved in college to ensure that I stayed eligible to receive those scholarships. Through studying very hard and applying myself in the classroom, at my internship at Volvo Construction Equipment, and at my job as alumni coordinator the Honors College, I ensured I was ready to take on the real world. That is why I believe I was able to graduate with a job offer and begin full time employment right away. My experiences in college gave me unique talking points during interviews and showed that I had developed both professionally and personally.

I decided to pay it forward because having recently graduated, I know how challenging completing an undergraduate degree can be. Tack on a job, or two, plus an internship and involvement in clubs or Greek life, and it’s a very busy and at times stressful, four year experience. And of course, you’re probably supposed to check in with mom or dad every now and then, and maybe even have some fun too! So I decided to give back what I can, to help alleviate some of the financial burden for students. For lots of students receiving a scholarship means they can take a few less hours at their job and focus on studying for that final. Or, it could mean funding an experiential learning opportunity that otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford.

I was once that student. I attended national conferences and participated in an experiential learning opportunity in the Dominican Republic thanks to your support. Without your generosity, I wouldn’t have had these experiences to shape me into who I am today, or talk about in my interview for what became my first full time job. I am certain that my experiential learning opportunity in the Dominican Republic is what put me over the bar over other candidates for that job. As an alum I made the decision to pay it forward, just as you all did for me, because I know how the support can be life-changing.

I also know numerous other young alumni who are already giving their time, talent, and treasure to the university and its current students. You all impacted us so much as undergraduates that we were inspired to continue the circle, and continue to give back. We’re hoping that this cycle continues for years to come. Your charitable gifts aren’t just supporting the students who directly receive the scholarships. Your gifts are a link in a chain of continuous giving. Generation after generation of support, inspired by those who came before them. So thank you all for your continuous generosity and support to this university and its students. Together, we are shaping the future.

 

Thank you.