Marshall Magazine Autumn 2022

spotli g ht

Lasting Legacy SCHOLARSHIP SECURES THREE GENERATIONS

C ollege is a momentous experience for every stu dent. It is often the beginning of the rest of their lives. What unfolds among the stately buildings, late night study sessions, and lifelong friendships that shape their futures, can many times spur inspiration for the generations that follow. Three Marshall University graduates have such sto ries. Susan Popp, Kim Wellman and Sydney Wellman all received their degrees from Marshall. They are also grandmother, mother and daughter. “Three generations is kind of a long time, so we all experienced something different,” Sydney said. “We defi nitely bond over that. And it's also a matter of respect in a way, we all recognize that we've put in the work to receive our degrees from the same college and we have this level of respect for each other.” Sydney is the most recent Marshall graduate in their family, earning her bachelor's degree in biomechanics in May 2022. She is now a graduate student in Marshall’s School of Physical Therapy. Their legacy is made possible thanks to Marshall’s Alumni Legacy Scholarship. The Alumni Legacy Scholarship is awarded to a non-resident, first-time freshman whose parent or grandparent graduated from Marshall. The student’s parent or grandparent must also be donors of the university. Susan has donated to Marshall consistently for more than 30 years, and it is because of Susan’s generous con tributions to the university that Sydney, who lives across the river in Chesapeake, Ohio, was able to attendMarshall

at an affordable rate. However, none were aware of the scholarship beforehand. “I was completely surprised by the scholarship oppor tunity,” Kim said. “That was a real blessing. It has made me realize how important donations are to the university. That’s something I’m going to start doing is donating to the Marshall Foundation for that reason. It was so helpful for Sydney to get her bachelor’s degree. I’m grateful my mom donated, and that she could have that opportunity.” But for Susan, college was not a part of her original plan. “My future husband was already at Marshall,” she explained. “My father asked me if I wanted to go, and he gave me some money. He wanted me to go to school.” Susan married her late husband, Larry, who graduated from Marshall in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. The two then moved to Virginia, thus putting Susan’s college career on hold. “We moved to a southern part of Virginia and there were no colleges there, so there was no opportunity to go back,” she said. Nearly a decade later, the family moved to Blacksburg, Virginia, as Larry graduated with his master’s degree from Radford University. This allowed Susan to return to the classroom before the family moved back to Huntington a year later. With another move across state lines, Susan knew she would have to wait a year before she could enroll again to pay the in-state tuition rates. Or so she thought. “My mother saw an article in the newspaper that they had a program for women returning to college,” Susan

40 A U T U M N 2 0 2 2