MSU President's Newspaper Column

November 19, 2022 

Academic scholarship funds help wonderful students become outstanding professionals

Lauryn Wolfgram.jpgAs the holidays draw near, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the many gifts with which we have been blessed. One of those precious gifts for countless alumni and friends is Mayville State University. For 133 years, the university has provided experiences that have made lives better.

Student scholarships help to ensure that Mayville State’s legacy of delivering the best in personal service and outstanding educational opportunities continues for new generations of students. The MSU Foundation has just kicked off the annual academic scholarship drive. Gifts received will help us to recruit and retain new students.

We know that scholarships may mean the difference in whether a student chooses to attend Mayville State, or whether to attend college at all. Gifts will help to relieve the financial stress that can go with earning a college degree and may be the very thing that makes it possible for a deserving person to do so. Students must carry the bulk of the financial load, but scholarships can really help to ease the burden.

Lauryn Wolfgram, a junior from Thompson, N.D., is one of those scholarship recipients. She is the 2022-23 recipient of the Lowell Nelson Accounting Scholarship. Lauryn is working toward majors in business administration and accounting with specializations in banking/finance and marketing. Lauryn is an active member of Collegiate DECA, and she has been the recipient of several awards within that organization.

Ms. Wolfgram is entertaining the option to pursue a master’s degree in business administration after earning her degree at Mayville State. This would lead to the career path of becoming a college professor. She’s also considering the possibility of becoming a CPA or a real estate appraiser, where she would have entrepreneurial opportunities. She looks forward to completing internships in these areas in the future.

Lauryn chose to attend Mayville State University because of its size. She said that when she toured the campus, she loved how small it was. Her tour guide knew the name of every single person they walked past and said “hello.” Lauryn thought that was awesome. She absolutely loves her professors and classmates. For her, it’s important that she is able to get to know them in the small campus environment at Mayville State. She also enjoys being close to home and her family while pursuing her educational and career goals. We are Comet proud of Lauryn, an outstanding student and member of the Mayville State family.

This year, gifts to the academic scholarship drive have the potential to make an even bigger impact at Mayville State because of matching dollars provided through the work of the North Dakota Legislature’s Challenge Grant Program. The Challenge Grant provides a 50% match for private gifts to educational scholarship funds. That’s helping to make a serious bang for your buck, and all for an extremely worthy cause. This is a great time to make a gift that will have an even greater impact.

We at Mayville State are extremely thankful for the generosity of all our alumni and friends. Their support is key to making great things happen at the university and in the lives of individuals. These people are paying forward the goodness they’ve received through their association with Mayville State, and in doing so, changing lives. Their financial assistance in the form of large and small gifts makes a huge difference.

To make a gift to the academic scholarship drive or to learn more about how you can establish an endowment and leverage the power of the North Dakota Challenge Grant, please contact Lon Jorgensen at the MSU Foundation, 701-788-4864 or lonny.jorgensen@mayvillestate.edu, or go to www.mayvillestate.edu/academicscholarships.