Western Illinois University raised $228,919 from more than 1,200 donors in 24 hours for the WIU Foundation’s Annual Fund during this year’s Western Challenge on Purple and Gold Day.
“We are incredibly grateful to our alumni, friends, parents and students who express their Leatherneck Pride with a gift during the Western Challenge this year and every year,” WIU Director of Annual Giving and Western Challenge Coordinator Tim Hallinan said in a news release. “The impact they have on our students and our university cannot be overstated.”
Numerous campus areas also benefited from the “match and challenge” dollars. Donors pledging a match or challenge included:
- $25,000 Matches/Challenges: Scott Clarke (Scott Clarke Excellence in Student Leadership Scholarship).
- $10,000 Matches/Challenges: Sam Olivia (College of Business and Technology/Accounting).
- $5,000 Matches/Challenges: Mona Sawyer (College of Business and Technology/Scholarships), Stephanie, Brian, and Chris Lovingood (Lovingood Scholarship); $5,500, Jim and Debbie Carter (Multiple Designations).
- $3,000 Matches/Challenges: Tom and Gayle Carper (Track and Field).
- $2,000 Matches/Challenges: Ron Pettigrew (Veterans Resource Center); $2,500, Brian and Linda Savage (Returning Leatherneck Scholarship), Anonymous (Retuning Leatherneck Scholarship).
- $1,000 Matches/Challenges: Debra Miller (Returning Leatherneck Scholarship), Brian Spotts (Football), Gerry Salzman (Agriculture), Moore’s Floors – Quincy, Illinois – (Live Mascot Fund); Marty O’Connor (Alumni Association); $500, Anonymous (Phonathon Student Scholarship), $200, Ifeoluwa Adediran (Computer Science), $125, Mac Price (Phonathon Student Scholarship), $100, Laura Ferenc (Mathematics), RPTA faculty Megan Owens and Jeremy Robinett (RPTA Scholarship), Jude Kiah (Go West Security), Shelby Eck (Fraternity/Sorority Life), Stacey Macci (Communication).
Since 2017, the online Western Challenge has supported the WIU Foundation’s Annual Fund to support future students and initiatives and raise awareness about WIU alumni contributing to the next generation of leaders, according to the release.
“Giving to the Western Challenge not only gave us the opportunity to support the future of Western Illinois University and its students, but also allowed us to celebrate its ‘storied’ past,” said WIU alumnus and donor Jim Carter, in the release. “We will never forget the four years we spent at WIU which were instrumental in providing us with the firm foundation which we are thankful for over 40 years later. We will always be Purple and Gold.”
For more information, visit wiu.edu/fortheW or wiu.edu/give.
