by Taylor Bryant
University of West Georgia President Dr. Kyle Marrero recently met with scholarship donors and recipients at his first Presidential Luncheon. The luncheon provided an opportunity for UWG donors to meet the students who were being impacted by their gifts.
Dr. Marrero began his speech sharing that 60 percent of UWG students do not have enough money to attend the University of West Georgia and require financial aid and scholarships.
“Greenway has hired over 350 of our students and 35 percent of their employee base are UWG graduates,” says Dr. Marrero. “At Southwire and SMI the percentage is also high. What is more astounding is when I asked how they are doing, they shared that in the history of hiring UWG students they never had to fire one because of their inability to do the job. You here today have made that happen!”
An estimated 140 donors sat with various students discussing in detail the students’ college careers, life goals and dreams.
“All four of my children received their undergraduate or graduate degrees from West Georgia,” says Phillip Kauffman, UWG Foundation Board of Trustees member. “It has always been important for me to give opportunities to students who attend this university because I was never afforded the opportunity to get an education.”
Student speaker Eric Ollila shared with the audience the impact the scholarships have had on his student career. “When I first moved here with my family, my dad was going to continue his real estate appraisal business here,” says Eric. “But a year to two years in, he began to notice changes in his vision and within three months he went from having normal vision to being legally blind. Needless to say it had quite an effect on our family income, so I began lawn maintenance for neighbors and working at Publix, but without the support you give I don’t even know if attending college would be possible.”
Today Eric continues to work at Publix while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average as a double major in biology and chemistry. In addition to serving as the elected president for the American Medical Student Association, doing student research and starting a volunteer program for pre-health majors, Eric is also in the process of applying to medical school in hopes of one day becoming a doctor.
“It’s because of people like you who have made a difference with this institution, with this city, with this county, with this state and with the USA. We have a great future here at the University of West Georgia, and I am proud to be its seventh president,” concludes Dr. Marrero. “We are going to do great things in decades to come with your help. We are a pack, and together we can do great things.”
