photo of students in front of enrollment center

Photo: Sarah Anne Wharton '06

Paying It Forward

During the 2020-21 academic year, Juniata students were awarded more than $43.1 million in scholarships and grants, including the 62 new endowed scholarships created by proud alumni and friends.

By: April Feagley

photo of students in front of enrollment center

Paying It Forward

During the 2020-21 academic year, Juniata students were awarded more than $43.1 million in scholarships and grants, including the 62 new endowed scholarships created by proud alumni and friends.

By: April Feagley

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Establishing an endowed scholarship creates a legacy from one generation of Juniatians to another.

Since the beginning of the BELIEVE Campaign, 62 new endowed scholarships have been created by proud alumni and friends, including Carol Heaton Pletcher ’66 and her late husband, Wayne, Pat Bruno ’66 and Lois Weader Bruno ’67, and Glen Wurst ’67.

“Wayne and I talked a lot about the potential that people saw in us and how there were people in our life who supported us and guided us. In many ways, they helped us achieve things we could have only dreamed about,” says Carol. “It is by standing on the shoulders of those before us that we are in a position to make the world better. Education is the key.”

It is by standing on the shoulders of those before us that we are in a position to make the world better. Education is the key.

The Pletchers’ gift established the Carol Heaton Pletcher ’66 and Wayne Pletcher Endowed Scholarship, a testament to the couple’s strong belief in the transformative power of education.

“Our gift is the statement of our belief,” Carol says.

Belief in the power of Juniata to transform lives also inspired Pat Bruno ’66 and Lois Weader Bruno ’67 to make a gift to support the education of students interested in medicine.

“Lois and I feel that Juniata has been so monumentally influential in our lives that we wanted to establish a scholarship in perpetuity,” says Pat.

The Pat ’66 and Lois ’67 Bruno Endowed Scholarship for Pre-Medical Students will be awarded each year to a third-year, pre-medical student enrolled at Juniata, who is following a non-traditional pre-medical degree path.

As Pat considered his impetus for giving, he paraphrased Longfellow, “The lives of great people remind us that we can make our lives sublime, and departing leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.”

Glen Wurst ’67 also created a new scholarship to pave the way for current and future students to come to Juniata.

Motivated by his experiences during his first year at Juniata, which he describes as the “most important and formative year in all of my formal education,” Glen developed a life-long passion for education and support for the liberal arts.

“My high regard for Juniata made it easy for me to begin contributing to the annual fund soon after I graduated. I gradually increased those gifts as my financial circumstances improved,” Glen says. “A few years ago, I set up an endowed scholarship in memory of my parents to support international students’ attendance at Juniata. I also have included Juniata in my will. I believe strongly in what Juniata is doing, where it’s been, and where it’s going. I believe that supporting education, especially liberal arts education, is the best thing I can do to make the world a better place.”

Endowed scholarships have a deeply meaningful impact on the lives of the students they benefit.

“I wholeheartedly thank Mr. Wurst for the scholarship because of the opportunity it has provided me. His support is a motivation to keep up the hard work and to aim for even higher grades and more success in the years to come,” says Selam Tadesse ’23, recipient of the scholarship created by Glen. “Juniata College made me feel like I was at my second home. I would not trade my experience at Juniata so far for anything. It has played such a significant role in my life and who I am today and who I will become tomorrow.”

Endowed scholarships can be created with gifts of $50,000 or more to support students year after year.

Carol Heaton Pletcher ’66 portrait
Lois Weader Bruno ’67 and Pat Bruno ’66 portrait
Glen Wurst ’67 portrait
Left to Right: Carol Heaton Pletcher ’66, Lois Weader Bruno ’67 and Pat Bruno ’66, Glen Wurst ’67