Faculty/Staff Campaign Generates Thanks and Millions From: University of Cincinnati Currents Date: February 25, 2000 By: Marianne Kunnen-Jones Nancy Hamant knows what it is like to try to pay for college when you don't have the money. When she graduated from high school, her mother died and her father was ill and couldn't work. "I was very fortunate to receive a Classics Scholarship," she says. "It paid all my tuition - $125 for A&S at that time. I couldn't have gone to college without it," recalls the l957 UC graduate who became a high school history and Latin teacher, later returning to UC to earn her EdD and accept a full-time faculty position in the College of Education. Forty-seven years after coming here as a freshmen and 35 years after joining the faculty, Hamant has decided it's time to help others launch their college educations at UC -- not just by being a good teacher, but in a more dollars-and-cents way. Hamant is just one example of the scores of UC faculty and staff who have contributed more than $14.8 million so far to the university's five-year Campaign for UC. Like all fund-raising efforts for a university, the UC Campaign, under way since 1995, has garnered generous support from corporate and private supporters, but it also gains fuel from individuals on the current faculty and staff who, like Hamant, make personal commitments and encourage further participation from alumni and friends throughout the world. Hamant is joined by her husband Tom, who is also a UC alumnus, in her support of the campaign. The spouses have agreed to fund scholarships through the UC Foundation and have promised more to come via their will. "I hope simply to give other students the opportunity that I had," says Hamant, who in addition to her appointment in Education, serves as the president of the Alumni Association and UC faculty representative to the NCAA and has served on the Faculty Senate. A similar concern to support students with more than instruction is the key motivation behind two other recent gifts to the campaign from faculty members. Jack Spille, former dean of the College of Applied Science and emeritus professor of chemical technology, dreams of a day in 2003 when the College of Applied Science celebrates its 175th anniversary and awards its first full 175th Anniversary Scholarship from a fund he jump-started. Environmental engineering professor Pasquale "Pat" Scarpino, faculty adviser to the UC chapter of the Circle K student service group for the past 13 years, recently decided his view of service should be expanded beyond the time he devotes to students, community and research. Scarpino's new definition of serving means he wants to support the students within his department. He will be providing $28,000 to endow two annual graduate student awards - one for the best master's thesis and one for the best doctoral dissertation - in environmental engineering and science. He intends the first two prizes of $500 each to be awarded this spring, but plans to increase the awards to $1,000 each. It will be fully funded by Scarpino within two years. The inspiration behind the Spille-ignited College of Applied Science's new 175th Anniversary Scholarship Fund comes down to practicalities, says the retired dean behind it all. "Scholarships are an important means of attracting students in an increasingly competitive atmosphere," he says. He has heard of the national and local studies that show finances rank among the top reasons that students drop out of college. In fact a 1997 survey within the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences found that finances and personal reasons were the No. 1 cause of student attrition, according to Stan Henderson, associate vice president for Enrollment Management. "Scholarships can go a long way toward easing their financial burden," Spille says. But another motivation for his gift, he adds, is a concern for first-generation college students. "The majority of students in the college are first-generation. Quite frankly, the college is in the social mobility business, taking working class students and moving them into careers with a future." So strongly does he feel that he has committed a total of $10,000 from his retirement funds over the next five years to launch the fund. "I hope others will do the same. We hope to encourage others to give $175 in honor of the 175th anniversary." His long-term goal is to establish a full scholarship for one student in each department in the college. "We will need a $2 million principle to do that, but it would be wonderful to have $25,000 by 2003," he said. Although he acknowledges he may sound corny, Spille stresses that another rationale for his gift is a desire to express thanks to the institutions that employed him for 38 years: the College of Applied Science and UC. "For me having been at this institution has been really life changing. I am in love with universities. I think they are great places. My career here has been very fulfilling." Both Scarpino and Hamant echo that feeling of gratitude. Says Scarpino, "There is something about teaching that makes you younger. It's the fact you are interacting with young minds. This is the only way I have to say to these kids that I appreciate you, and I appreciated all the ones that came before you." Concludes Hamant, "I have enjoyed a long and pleasant career at UC, and it's time to give something back."