The Schrems Scholarship program was established in 1987 at Michigan State University. It is named in honor of Cornelius M. Schrems, one of Trout Unlimited’s founding members and our Chapter’s namesake. This scholarship provides financial support to a qualified Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife graduate student pursuing a degree consistent with SWMTU’s mission and values. Since its inception, thirty MSU graduate students, including Michigan Trout Unlimited’s Executive Director, Dr. Bryan Burroughs, have been awarded this scholarship.
Today, many past Schrems scholarship recipients are working diligently to protect our nation’s cold water resources. Our scholars are making a difference through the positions they hold at various universities, state and federal conservation and environmental agencies in the Midwest while several others are fully engaged in similar capacities as far away as Washington and California.
Your financial support makes this program possible. Over the past several years we have raised $70,000 through member and private foundation donations to establish the Schrems Scholarship Endowment at Michigan State University, where the income generated from the investments enables us to award a scholarship to a deserving graduate student each year.
Based on our current fund balance, we are able to award about $3,400 per annum. Our objective is to raise the annual scholarship award to at least $4,800. To achieve this goal, we need to raise an additional $30,000 to bring our fund balance to $100,000.
We now have a unique opportunity to reach our funding goal through the Schrems Scholarship Challenge. This challenge comes in the form of a match grant from a very generous donor who has committed to contribute up to $10,000 to the Scholarship Fund if we are able to raise $20,000 from other sources. In short, this means that every $2.00 we receive in Scholarship donations, our benefactor will match by $1.00.
Help us reach the $100,000 milestone by making a generous donation and support the next generation of cold water stewards. Donations can be made by sending a check to Schrems Trout Unlimited, PO Box 230094 Grand Rapids, MI 49523, or by PayPal by clicking on the “Donate to SWMTU” button on our website, www.swmtu.org. A donation form can be found here. Remember every $2.00 contributed will be matched by an additional $1.00. Your generosity will make a difference and help deserving Fisheries and Wildlife students defray the rising costs of higher education – Don’t Wait, Donate Today.
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