Alumni Launch new fund for
student support

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More than 90 percent of UMKC students receive some sort of financial assistance for their education, but much of the need still goes unmet.

“Receiving a scholarship enabled me to pursue an education that otherwise would have saddled me with a huge amount of debt. I know that I will give back when I am in the working world,” said Alfred Jordan, School of Law student.

Kassie Adams, a scholarship recipient at the College of Arts and Sciences said, “I was so relieved when I learned that I would receive a scholarship. Focusing on schoolwork is so much easier when you do not have to worry about financial burdens.”

Alfred and Kassie are two of the many reasons the UMKC Alumni Association has opened a new chapter in its history. In March, the board voted to eliminate membership dues in favor of encouraging alumni to direct their financial support to the new UMKC Alumni Fund. The Alumni Fund raises money to support student scholarships, programming and other enhancements.

“Chancellor Bailey has been clear about his vision for a more engaged alumni base at UMKC,” said Duana Dralus (B.A. ’63, M.A. ’69), president of the UMKC Alumni Association. “The Alumni Association is proud to help lead the effort to increase alumni participation at the University as part of our mission to support UMKC and its students.”
It is not the amount of a gift, but the number of alumni who give that matters most, Dralus said. National rankings look at alumni participation as a measure of how much alumni believe in the institution and value their degrees.
At the UMKC Alumni Awards Dinner on April 19, the UMKC Alumni Association presented Chancellor Bailey with a lead gift of $15,000 to show its support for the Alumni Fund.

“The Alumni Association board wanted to be the first to invest in this new initiative designed to take student success to the next level. We are proud to provide the seed money to begin growing our base of alumni support at UMKC,” said Dralus.

If you would like to become an Alumni Fund participant, please visit www.umkc.edu/alumnifund.

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