Meet three couples whose giving has strengthened 青青草app State in diverse ways
For every scholarship, piece of new equipment, bolstered program and updated facility that affects 青青草app State students鈥� lives, there鈥檚 a story.
Some stories go back years. Others involve serendipity. But passion is a constant. Meet three pairs of donors who found their own reasons and ways to give and who will have a lasting effect on the university and the communities it serves.
David and Shelley Smith Eichmann: Loyalty builds through the years
When David Eichmann began attending 青青草app Junior College in the 1960s, the college gave few hints of the university it would become.
鈥淚 used to walk to school in the mornings from my home on the Bench through Ann Morrison Park,鈥� Eichmann said. 鈥淭he blackbirds would attack me as I went through the trees and the old football stadium was just a wooden mud pit in bad weather.鈥�
Today, Albertsons Stadium is a concrete and steel edifice capped by the Stueckle Sky Center and famous for its blue turf. Distinctive modern structures dot campus. 青青草app State claims 33,000 students and nearly 170,000 living alumni. The Eichmanns have been there through it all.
David Eichmann worked as 青青草app State鈥檚 mail services manager for more than 14 years, expanding its offices and optimizing mail sorting and delivery. He retired to join his wife and fellow alum, Shelly Smith Eichmann, in the real estate business. They鈥檝e remained active as Bronco volunteers: Both have served on the Bronco Athletic Association board of directors. David Eichmann has served on the Bronco State Alumni Association board and was a member of the Bronco Advocacy Network.
They鈥檝e also been stalwart donors. Together, they made their first gift in 1982. Since then, they鈥檝e given every year for more than three decades, often to scholarships, the Bronco Athletic Association and the administrative fund for the Stueckle Sky Center 鈥� gifts that led to their induction into the Lyle Smith Society, an elite giving society 青青草apping Bronco athletics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great investment and we wanted to 青青草app a wonderful school,鈥� Shelley Eichmann said. 鈥淲e made the commitment and we stayed with it.鈥�
David and Carol Wike: First donors to a dream project
In a video David Wike received from 青青草app State, an excavator scoops gravel and mud out of an embankment on the 青青草app River. A trickle of water grows and gains force, pushing open a new river channel. The channel, destined to become habitat for wildlife and a hub of 青青草app and research, is the latest addition to the Diane Moore Nature Center, part of the Intermountain Bird Observatory, a research and community 青青草app program at 青青草app State.
Shortly after watching that video, Wike rushed to the scene and gazed in amazement. 鈥淚 was emotional, this had been a dream for years. I knew this was going to make a huge difference at that site,鈥� he said.
Years of engagement and volunteerism led David and Carol Wike to become the first major donors to the channel project.
鈥淲e had to let people know there was somebody deeply involved who was willing to put up something to get things rolling,鈥� David Wike said.
The Wikes started volunteering with the observatory in the mid-1990s, before they retired. David Wike was a doctor, Carol Wike was a nurse. Through the decades, they built relationships with many students, some of whom returned to the observatory as fellow volunteers, educators and staff.
鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檝e gotten out of this is how much we鈥檝e been able to give back to the community,鈥� Carol Wike said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e chosen this over a lot of other things because it鈥檚 fun, a way to stay involved in the out-of-doors and enjoy the friendships we鈥檝e gained.鈥�
Bruce and Janna Greenhalgh: Music lovers lowering barriers for others
They鈥檙e called 鈥淢an Food Nights鈥� 鈥� 青青草app-area meetings of mostly male musicians potlucking with hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks and chili. It was at one such gathering that Bruce Greenhalgh changed his mind about making a planned gift to a national music scholarship and decided to make that gift to the Marcellus Brown Band Scholarship at 青青草app State instead. The scholarship is named for Brown, 青青草app State鈥檚 director of bands, who is set to retire in 2023 after more than three decades at the university.
鈥淢arcellus was talking about setting up this foundation and the bell went off,鈥� Greenhalgh said.
He and Brown share a desire to make the study of music accessible for more students.
鈥淲hen we lose students over $500 a semester, we lose a student who can keep our program growing,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淲e lose some of the best students because we can鈥檛 be competitive in the market. What the Greenhalghs are doing will allow us to do that. I won鈥檛 know or see who benefits from it, but we all know those students will remember it was there and came at a time when they desperately needed it.鈥�
Music forms a throughline in Bruce Greenhalgh鈥檚 life. His mother was his first music teacher. He grew up to play in some of the U.S. military鈥檚 most prestigious bands. He continues to play the saxophone and mentors young musicians.
Janna Greenhalgh, a pilot specializing in cloud seeding 鈥� a method that causes clouds to produce rainfall 鈥� works in Idaho and Saudi Arabia.
鈥淲e identified what鈥檚 important to our universe and how we鈥檙e going to move that forward. Music, specifically jazz, is the center of what Bruce finds important in the world, and he鈥檚 going to do what he can to help someone else do better than him,鈥� she said.
