Discovering Your Purpose at UW-Stevens Point is about the people. It is different here, and you feel it the moment you step foot on campus. UW-Stevens Point changes lives through the journey of academic, personal and passionate discovery. A stand-out public regional university with a Carnegie ranking, UWSP will continue to remove barriers for all who attend to aid them in creating a bright and prosperous future. The goal of the Discover Your Purpose Comprehensive Campaign is $100 million. It is then we will declare our Purpose: Discovered.
Join us in creating a legacy of purpose.
Scholarship Impact
Program Fund Reach
Campaign Progress
Areas You Can Impact
UWSP’s campus is alive with construction. Dream with us as we create the new physical spaces of campus.
The Gale and Paul Kirby Library and Student Resources Center
In the footprint of the former Albertson Hall, the new Gale and Paul Kirby Library and Student Resources Center is open and being utilized by students as if it was always part of the Pointer experience. Funding for the construction of the building came from the state. In recognition of their incredible generosity and support, the building was named in honor of Gale and Paul Kirby shortly after opening in 2026. They made the largest contribution of any alumnus in UWSP history. Inside the building is the Albertson Commons and the Reinhart Library. The Reinhart Library was named for the benefactor of an estate gift left to the UWSP Foundation. We ask you, the Pointer family, to help us continue to enhance the inner spaces for our current students. Your philanthropy will imprint on their experience. Contact Laura Gehrman Rottier to learn more.
Pointer Student-Athletes are the best, and they deserve to grow in spaces that help them be their best. Invest your philanthropy in Athletics and help our Pointers flourish as student athletes. Contact Tony Romano to learn more about these and other exciting projects.
Turf Field Project: Completed!
Thanks to the generosity of alumni Breck and Sheri Loos, both class of 1987, as well as an anonymous donor, the turf fields and multipurpose sports complex intended for UWSP Athletics and UWSP Intramurals was completed during the quiet phase of the campaign. This intersection of philanthropic passion and inspired university priorities demonstrates the deep and lasting impact alumni and donors have at UWSP.
Football Locker Room Replacement Project: Completed!
Completed fall of 2025, this project brings our Pointer football team into a new era- a path the Pointers of the past, present and future can be proud of. Contact Tony Romano to support projects like these at UWSP..
College of Natural Resources First Floor Renovation: Completed!
Thanks to the generosity of donors Tim Kroeff (’75) and the Timothy Taschwer Trust, the Dean’s Suite renovation, pushed to the top of the priority list as the result of flooding, has been completed. Plans for a re-imagined first floor of the Trainer Natural Resources Building continue to move forward as well. Support this effort by contacting Brian Stezenski-Williams.
College of Letters and Science Planetarium Renovation: Completed!
The Olson Museum and Blocher Planetarium enjoy many common visitors. Don (’75) and Judi (’76, ’89) Olson have recognized their continued support for both by making gifts that have resulted in the completion of the Planetarium project and the continuing upgrades in the Olson Museum.
The Blocher Planetarium is a treasure of the Stevens Point community, offering shows to students young and old alike. This space has inspired countless students to go onto careers in astronomy and sparked the imagination of young children on field trips as they ask questions about the universe and their place in it. Support projects like this in the College of Letters and Science by connecting with Amanda Gilman
Some reasons to create scholarships
Email the UWSP Foundation to start the conversation about creating your scholarship today! Email: UWSP.Foundation@uwsp.edu
Email the UWSP Foundation to start the conversation about creating your scholarship today! Email: UWSP.Foundation@uwsp.edu
Be a co-creator of new opportunities through program funds. Program funds have allowed UWSP the opportunities to provide world-class endowed professorships to ensure students are learning from the best of the best in faculty. Home to seven endowed professorships currently, you could bring our next endowed professorship to life.
Program funds also inspire deep work to recruit and retain the next generation of Pointers. For example, the Sentry School of Business and Economics Program Fund allowed for market research to be done, resulting in a new branding campaign for the school that is attracting students from everywhere who are ready to lead. Contact Carie Winn for more information about ways to get involved and support this area.
Programs offer a way for students to enhance their skills and round out their college experience. Make a gift to a program support fund here. Read on for examples to inspire. Through existing programs or opportunities yet to be created, UWSP works tirelessly to create the best and most relevant opportunities for our students.
One of the most successful program funds at the UWSP Foundation was thanks to a gift of $5 million from the estate of alumna Dorothea Harju, the Harju Center for Opportunities in Education at UW-Stevens Point was established in the School of Education, focused on addressing educational inequities in Wisconsin. By supporting diverse and first-generation elementary education teachers, the Harju Center will help level the education playing field for Wisconsin children.
Educators Rising Wisconsin is the local version and state affiliate with Educators Rising. Membership in a professional organization provides resources, a sense of community and belonging, and the opportunity for reciprocal learning. The experience can be brought to students in a curricular, extra-curricular or co-curricular pathway with flexible scheduling to meet the needs of teacher leader and students. Curriculum for this experience was written by a team of Wisconsin educators in summer 2020, and is anchored in Educator Rising and Wisconsin Teacher Standards. The curriculum is offered free of charge, and may be found on the Wisconsin DPI website. To support the School of Education, contact Gina Miresse.
UWSP’s Theatre and Dance Program is known for producing graduates that go on to incredibly successful careers both on and off stage and screen. Supporting this program allows faculty and staff to continue to elevate the opportunities offered to Pointers of today. Contact Joe Seubert for more information and to support the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
Endowed Professorships
Having seven endowed professorships at UW-Stevens Point lends prestige to programs and assists in recruiting top notch talent in the field.
Current Endowed Professorships include:
Douglas R. Stephens Chair in Wildlife
Kennedy-Grohne Endowed Chair in Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation
Sentry Insurance Endowed Chair in Business Analytics
Sentry Insurance Endowed Chair in Computational Analytics
Gerald and Helen Stephens Professorship in Wildlife
Edmond Bukolt Faculty Professorship in Cello
Legacy Endowed Professor of Population Health
Interested in learning more about or establishing an endowed professorship? Contact us at UWSP.Foundation@uwsp.edu
Ways to make your impact
Gift of Cash
The Power of a Simple Gift
One of the easiest and most common ways for you to support UWSP Foundation is with a gift of cash. Cash can be used to support our work in the form of:
An outright gift. By making a cash gift by check, credit card or setting up an automatic transfer from your bank account today, you enable UWSP to meet our most urgent needs and carry out our mission on a daily basis. You will have the opportunity to see your generosity in action and will also receive a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize on your taxes.
A payable on death (POD) account. A POD bank account or certificate of deposit names one or more persons or charities as the beneficiary of all funds once you, the account owner, pass away. The beneficiary you name has no rights to the funds until after your lifetime. Until that time, you remain in control and are free to use the money in the bank account, change the beneficiary or close the account.
There are several other ways to make cash donations as part of the gift types below. To learn more, explore the links below.
Ways to Use Cash
Gift in Your Will or Living Trust
Deepen Your Connections
You want to leave money to UWSP Foundation in your will. You also want the flexibility to change your will in the event that life circumstances change. You can do both.
In as little as one sentence, you can complete your gift. This type of donation to UWSP in your will or living trust helps ensure that we continue our mission for years to come.
Start Today
An Example of How It Works
With three minor children, Andrew and Amy knew that it was time to create an estate plan for their family. They found that the estate planning process helped them reflect on the people and nonprofits that were important to them and the legacy they would like to leave. They learned how easy and flexible it can be to include one sentence to make a gift to UWSP for a percentage of their estate or a specific dollar amount.
Gift of Appreciated Securities
A Tax-Savvy Way to Benefit from Growing Assets
Securities and mutual funds that have increased in value and been held for more than one year are popular assets to use when making a gift to UWSP Foundation. Making a gift of securities or mutual funds offers you the chance to support our work while realizing important benefits for yourself.
When you donate appreciated securities or mutual funds in support of our mission, you can reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer. You may also be entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the securities at the time of the transfer.
Securities are most often used to support our work in the form of:
An outright gift. When you donate securities to UWSP, you receive the same income tax savings that you would if you wrote a check, but with the added benefit of eliminating capital gains taxes on the transfer, which can be as high as 20%.
A transfer on death (TOD) account.* By placing a TOD designation on your brokerage or investment account, that account will be paid to one or more persons or charities after your lifetime.
To make a gift of securities, inform your broker and the UWSP Foundation (UWSP.Foundation@uwsp.edu) that you desire to make a gift of shares of stock. Your brokerage house transfers the stock into a brokerage account owned by the UWSP Foundation and the Foundation sells the stock.
Honorary Campaign Chair
Ray Ackerlund, '97
President – Skyward, Inc.
President – UWSP Foundation Board of Directors
Chair – UWSP Business Advisory Council
Internally, the campaign will be co-managed by a dedicated team, including Vice Chancellor William Broussard (wbroussa@uwsp.edu), Advancement Manager Cindy Weber (cyweber@uwsp.edu), and Principal Alumni Relations Officer Laura Gehrman Rottier (lgehrman@uwsp.edu).
Meet the team! UWSP Alumni Association University Advancement Staff – UW – Stevens Point Advancement
Impacts Made
Kim Westerman | October 2025
Paul (’78) and Gale Kirby’s journey began at UW–Stevens Point — and their legacy will now shape its future. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗿𝗯𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝗶 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗪𝗦𝗣’𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 an unrestricted gift ensuring that generations of students can discover their purpose and potential. Their story is one of hard work, gratitude, and giving back to the place that helped them find their way.
From Student Leadership to Lasting Impact
Kim Westerman | January 2026
From student leader to scholarship founder, Steven Heller, (’07) is proof that giving back doesn’t have to wait. His UWSP experience helped shape his career and values — and now he’s helping current and future Pointers build the same foundation of leadership and community that launched his own success.
Kim Westerman | March 2026
Justus Paul, former Dean of UW–Stevens Point’s College of Letters and Science, has spent his career embodying thoughtful, long‑term stewardship. A historian who authored The World Is Ours, UWSP’s centennial history, Paul is known for collaborative leadership, investment in equitable access to technology, and a deep commitment to the university’s mission.
To read more about the ways donors and others are impacting UWSP, head to The Cupola Post page.
