Opening Doors

For many students at Washburn University, a scholarship can be life changing. In his 22 years here, Alan Bearman – currently professor of history, vice president for strategic enrollment management and student success and dean of university libraries – has seen it time and time again. Students from working class backgrounds with modest financial means, many of them the first in their families go to college, receive a scholarship that unlocks their dream of higher education and changes their lives forever.

“Almost 50 percent of our students are first generation, so scholarships do not just change the life of that student – essentially it is changing that family tree,” Bearman said. “Not long ago, we told a young lady about a scholarship she was getting. She had given up the dream of going to university, just was not sure it was possible for her, but we talked about the scholarship and the mother just dropped to her knees in tears. They understood this was the difference between going and not going to college.”

Dick, ba ’66, h ’94, Davidson had a similar experience. He grew up on a farm in Allen, Kansas, a town of about 200 people 20 miles north of Emporia, and was raised by a single mother after his father had passed away. College did not seem like it would be in the cards for him – but a scholarship from Washburn changed that.

“If they had not done that, I don’t even know that I’d have gone to college,” Davidson said. “Suddenly, that scholarship opened the door for me.”

Now, he and his wife Trish want to open the door for others. This April, Washburn announced that it had received the largest scholarship donation in its history – $5 million from the Davidsons to create the Thelma Ann Davidson Memorial Scholarship, named to honor Dick’s mother. The award will provide financial aid to students in good standing with financial need who graduated from high school in Kansas.

For Dick, the experience of coming from small-town Kansas to the capital city to get his education was life changing. He took a part-time job as a brakeman/conductor for the Missouri Pacific Railroad while working his way through college, and over his 45-year career rose to become CEO at Union Pacific Corp until his retirement in 2007. He wanted to give others the chance to find the same type of success.

“I was extraordinarily fortunate in my career – hard work and luck and really good mentors enabled me to get to the top of the company,” Dick said. “Financially it became attractive to me to help other kids in Kansas who might face similar circumstances as me. I feel a debt of gratitude because Washburn made everything possible. I hope the scholarships reach kids who have a desire to go to college but wouldn’t be able to do so without some help.”

Impressively, this isn’t the Davidsons’ first major gift to Washburn. In 2009, they helped launch the 150 Forward campaign by making what was then the university’s largest single gift ever, supporting faculty and scholarships in the School of Business. Now, with the launch of Forever Washburn, the Davidsons have done it again, and their gift fits perfectly with Washburn’s strategic vision of being a frontline educator in the region and a leader in making college accessible for local students. 

That vision has already been paying off, in the form of record-setting enrollment increases (see sidebar). Bearman said that these increases are directly related to Washburn’s ability to provide great financial aid to students and the school’s growing reputation as a leader in creating affordable pathways to education for everyone. He cites programs like Shawnee County Thrives for local students, the Finnup Foundation scholarships that provide a pipeline of students from Western Kansas and now the Davidson scholarships open to all Kansas students as examples of Washburn’s linchpin role as a leading educator in the region.

“Our vision is that we want good, stable growth for the foreseeable future,” Bearman said regarding enrollment. “Our approach is simple: we want to tell people about Washburn. We tell them about affordable excellence and the opportunities in the capital city. We tell them how they will be the focus of the teacher. We help students see that they belong at Washburn, and the school is a pathway to their dreams.”

It certainly was for Dick Davidson. Now as Forever Washburn launches, the Davidsons are again leading the way, paying their own experience forward and helping the next generation of Kansans change their own lives and family trees.

“We appreciate and respect the Davidsons, and their gifts have changed lives and will continue to change lives,” Bearman said. “All I know to say is thank you. It’s fun to see students graduate and know they can pursue whatever dream they want because of people like the Davidsons who forever changed their lives.”