Central College alumni support student education through endowment fund

An endowment fund established by two Central College alumni is helping support students with financial need. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

An endowment established in 2022 by Central College alumni to help provide aid to students with financial need is already helping students, the college reported.

Harold Kolenbrander and Judy Grooters established a scholarship to support students like they were supported, according to a news release. The Harold Kolenbrander and Judy Grooters scholarship is open to students who have the financial need and the “desire and the capacity to be successful Central students,” the release stated.

First-year student Alivia Akers is using the award she received through the scholarship and other financial aid from the college to get started on her path addressing mental health needs as a future psychologist or therapist.

The Fort Madison resident plans to earn a psychology major and sociology major from the university, she said in the release. Before being notified of the scholarships she would receive, she had to decide whether she would attend a community college or Central. Coming from a low-income family, Akers said she didn’t have extra money to put to school.

“Because of my generous scholarships, I don’t have to stress about finances,” Akers said in the release. “My whole life we have been stressed about money. Scholarships allow me to not take out loans. I have a job, too, and I can work to pay my other expenses.”

Central College Director of Communications and Marketing Steffanie Bonnstetter said in an email the couple has requested the endowment’s amount and how much money Akers received be kept confidential. Endowed scholarships can be established at Central for a minimum of $50,000, Bonnstetter said.

Grooters’ and Kolenbrander’s lives have been connected since they graduated from Central in 1960, each marrying spouses they met at Central. They both began serving on the university’s board of trustees in the 1990s and currently hold roles as emeriti trustees.

After the passing of their partners, the pair met each other again at their 50th class reunion and later married in 2021.

“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Harold and Judy in their support of Alivia and many future students, too,” Bonnstetter said in the email.

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