More than $1.3 million will go toward assisting nursing students at The University of Western Ontario thanks to the generosity of former students.
In celebrating the 90th anniversary of the program, the academic and research achievements, and its growing international recognition, three gift announcements were made at a weekend event attended by hundreds of nursing alumni.
The gifts include: • A bequest of $1.2 million from an anonymous donor will boost the value of three awards he already established for undergraduate nursing students in memory of his partner, Audrey Metzler. These awards assist students in their first year of the Western-Fanshawe Collaborative nursing program who have financial need. Students continue to receive the award in each of second, third and fourth year for a total of $6,000 each. This latest gift will be used to bring the value of each of his awards up to cover 50 per cent of the cost of tuition and create an additional number of awards as well;
• A bequest of $105,000 from Helen Fasken (BSc ’42) will create the Helen Fasken Graduate Nursing Bursaries, an endowment for master and doctoral students whose studies are focused on long-term care of the elderly and who have demonstrated financial need. Two awards of $2,100 each will be available annually;
• The Marion McCracken Nursing 90th Anniversary Bursary Fund is valued at $70,000. With more than $4,000 in contributions, combined with two leadership gifts of $1,000 each and expected proceeds from the weekend gala event of approximately $4,000, the fund total is anticipated to be approximately $10,000 in total. Along with a recently received bequest of $63,000 (separate from the two larger bequests above), the Marion McCracken Nursing 90th Anniversary Bursary Fund was created.
The school is home to approximately 1,150 students in six programs offered at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The school’s vision is to remain a leader in innovative health education, research, practice and policy.