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One Day for UK is September 16

September 14, 2020

This year, the college is raising funds to unlock challenge gifts that will create new scholarships for women, persons from diverse populations and first-generation students.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020, will mark the second annual One Day for UK (OD4UK) giving day event. The inaugural OD4UK event raised nearly $130,000 for College of Engineering undergraduate scholarships thanks to 222 gifts and a $50,00 match from alumni Terry (BSCHE ‘72, MSCHE ‘74) and Sue Strange (BSZOOL ‘72, MSZOOL ‘74, MSCHE ‘94).

This year, the college is raising funds to unlock challenge gifts from alumni Beth Weeks and Terry and Sue Strange that will create new scholarships for women, persons from diverse populations and first-generation students.

“We want to create a seat for everyone,” said Dean Rudy Buchheit. “We’re counting on our alumni and friends of the college to make a difference on September 16th as we open doors for deserving students who will become tomorrow’s technology leaders.”

Because every individual gift will count toward the college’s thresholds to unlock the different challenge gifts, supporters are encouraged to give multiple times through the various social media contests running throughout the day.

The three challenge gifts available to the College of Engineering are:  

150 gifts—$25,000 for the College of Engineering Scholarship Fund

The College of Engineering is the college’s own scholarship fund. It awards a renewable four-year $3,000 scholarship for a total of $12,000.    

250 gifts— $25,000 for the Eric Grulke Chemical & Materials Engineering Study Abroad Endowment

Chemical engineering professor Eric Grulke strongly believed in the value of studying in a country other than one’s own and created the Pamplona Renewable Energy Program to give students the opportunity to appreciate the engineering profession from a global perspective. On One Day for UK, alumni Terry and Sue Strange will launch the Eric Grulke Chemical & Materials Engineering Study Abroad Endowment once the college surpasses 250 gifts.

350 gifts—Beth Weeks Women in Engineering Scholarship Fund

Over her 35-year career, Beth Weeks (BSCS 1985) has worked as a software developer, test engineer, senior director of engineering and senior vice president of engineering. On One Day for UK, she will endow $50,000 to generate scholarships for women in the College of Engineering. She is challenging her fellow Wildcats to make 350 gifts of any size help create even more scholarships. 

Learn more about One Day for UK here.