Generosity Leads to Success

Lander Celebrates Donors, Students at Annual Event

College scholarships help students pay for their education. But behind every college scholarship is a story of dreams and a deep hope for the future.

At Lander University’s 38th annual Eleanor Teal Donor Appreciation and Scholarship Celebration, stories of academic success and generosity became the hallmark of the evening.

Cyrus Kelly, of Sharpsburg, Ga., said the funds from the Self Regional Healthcare Endowed Scholarship will support his dreams of becoming a nurse. “Self is giving me access to more resources than I ever had before,” he said.

After the deaths of her father and sister, a young, uncertain Reese Williams put her hope in Lander, and said, the “University transformed my life.”

A senior mathematics major from Lexington, Williams said she was facing an uncertain future. But the Terry and Valerie Evans Scholarship and the Zeigler-Gregg Scholarship boosted Williams’ confidence and ability to succeed. “Donors welcomed me on the elevator of success.”

David Lander Henderson, great-grandson of Lander’s founder, Samuel Lander, benefited from a scholarship to study history at Lander. He and his wife, Betty Jo, and their family member, Ann Carol Corley, support multiple scholarships at the University, including one for Carley Muilenburg, a chemistry major from Leesville.

The scholarship is crucial to Muilenburg’s ability to pursue her goal of becoming a chemistry teacher. “I am paying for college myself,” she said. “I worked really hard in high school to be able to come to college … having this scholarship means that I can do what I want for my future.”

Henderson said he believes his greatgrandfather would be proud of the University, established as Williamston Female College 150 years ago. “Lander has had an enduring impact. If the University had not made a difference in the lives of South Carolinians, it would not have lasted. Lander’s future seems very, very bright.” 

By Karen Petit