Former Students

“I give to Austin Peay because the education of our citizens is so important to our economic well-being. Making a donation to the University is rewarding on a personal level as well. My wife Margaret and I have gotten lists of people who’ve received scholarships as a result of our donations. We’ve received letters from many of them and even met with a number of them, and they’ve all expressed enormous gratitude. Knowing you’ve made that kind of difference in someone’s life is very meaningful. I’m a great believer that if you’ve been blessed with some of the resources of the world, you should show your appreciation by sharing. Giving to Austin Peay is one of the ways Margaret and I give back to the community that has given us so much.”

Ben and Margaret Kimbrough
Former President
First Trust & Savings Bank
(Now Bank of America)
B.S. Business, 1951

“I give to Austin Peay because the University played such an important role in preparing me for the career I have enjoyed. My professors were supportive, encouraging and dedicated to my learning experience. I want to help in any way I can to see that legacy of exceptional support and attention to the student continues. The needs of higher education are enormous, particularly in Tennessee. Funds are needed not only for scholarships but to maintain facilities and to attract and keep quality faculty members. Scholarships are important, and my wife, Bobbi, and I take pride in helping deserving students in some way, but without teachers and facilities, access is meaningless. Austin Peay truly is a great institution. I want to do my part to assure it stays that way.”

Wayne Pace
Chief Financial Officer, AOL Time Warner Inc.
B.S. Accounting, 1968

“It was only when I started visiting colleges my friends were attending that I truly appreciated what I had as a student at Austin Peay: one-on-one instruction; small, comfortable classes and instructors who really cared how students were doing.

Austin Peay gave me so much. So I want to give back. It isn’t an obligation; it’s a pleasure. Because I realize that what I’m giving back is the opportunity for other students to experience what I experienced.

Many families don’t have the financial wherewithal to give their children a chance to get a college education. It’s important that those of us in a position to give do so. The more we give, the more the University can give to deserving students.”

Joe Greer, D.D.S.
Dentist, Memphis
B.S. Chemistry, Minor in Biology, 1970

"My dad worked at B. F. Goodrich (now Vulcan) in Clarksville. My mother was a bank teller. I had no choice of where I’d go to college. It was Austin Peay or nowhere. So when I left to go to medical school, I wasn’t sure if my education would measure up. There were people there from Harvard, Yale, everywhere. But my friend across the lab table from Harvard finished medical school several levels below me. A lot of people did. Austin Peay had prepared me well. I said then that someday, if I were in a position to help the university, I would. I’ve tried to do that. After all, what better use could money have than to change a young person’s life?"

David Philip Roe, M.D.
Gynecologist, Johnson City
B.S. Biology, Minor in Chemistry, 1967

“I was the oldest of five kids, so getting a scholarship was the only way I would be able to go to college. I got acceptance letters from colleges all over the country, but Austin Peay was my top choice. They had a great math program.
Attending Austin Peay was such a positive experience. I loved the small classes, and if I needed help, it was always there. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Valencia May, D.D.S.
Memphis
B.S. Chemistry, 1986

Current Students - Their Stories

With a 4.0 average throughout her years in high school, Alicia Thompson Julian could have attended any college. She chose Austin Peay—for two important reasons: the scholarships the University was able to offer and its proximity to her parents’ home in Cedar Hill. Alicia’s mother has suffered from Crohn’s, a disease marked by chronic inflammation in the intestinal tract, since her red-haired daughter was only 2. She also has arthritis of the spine. “Because my mom’s so sick, I wanted to go to school near my home, so I could get there if she needed me,” says Alicia, a senior accounting major. Alicia graduated from Joe Burns High School in Robertson County with the distinction of valedictorian. But with her mother’s health care consuming the family income, paying for college was impossible. Fortunately, scholarship funds were available through the President’s Emerging Leaders Program. Because she’s willing to serve as a resident assistant in her dorm, Alicia also receives a housing scholarship. She works in the University’s Admissions Office as a counselor, and last semester she worked as a day-care provider. Despite holding down three jobs, she has maintained a 3.67 average. She plans to take the CPA exam and enter the workforce as soon as she graduates. “People who donate money for scholarships don’t just help the students, they help the community,” says Alicia, “putting people like me into the workforce who might not have gotten there without help.”

Alicia Thompson Julian
Senior, College of Business
Accounting

Tamara Shoemaker always wanted to go to college. But as one of six children in a family that relied on government welfare programs for survival, the chance of attending college was about as likely as snow in July. “It wasn’t even on the radar,” she says.

Marriage at 19, the arrival of three sons at two-year intervals and the adoption of a special-needs child pushed Tamara’s desire for an education even further into the background. But it never completely disappeared.

Caring for a child with cerebral palsy brought her in constant contact with the healthcare system. And those encounters brought a new realization. “There’s a great need for competent, caring professionals who not only know the job but understand what people are going through,” she says.

The experience also reawakened a desire long buried beneath layers of motherly obligations: to return to college and become a nurse.

She enrolled at Austin Peay and has earned a 4.0 grade point average and enormous praise from her instructors. She entered the nursing program this fall.

“I plan to pursue a career as a pediatric nurse practitioner or a position in trauma or intensive care,” she says.

The fact that she is halfway toward a college degree still amazes Tamara, “the first and to this day only member of my family to graduate from high school,” and she says it would never have happened without financial support.

“The scholarships I’ve received are crucial to achieving my goal,” Tamara says. “I’m so grateful.”

Tamara Shoemaker
Junior, College of Professional Programs and Social Sciences
School of Nursing

Josie Curtis is one of four children. Her stepfather is a former construction worker who now drives a dump truck to support the family. Though Josie always expected to attend college, she quickly affirms that “if it weren’t for scholarships, I wouldn’t be here.”

Knowing her parents wouldn’t be able to afford tuition and fees, Josie made up her mind to “learn” her way into college. She maintained a 4.0 grade point average throughout high school. “A lot of work went into that 4.0,” she says. “I had no social life. My goal was to earn a scholarship.”

With the assistance of Austin Peay scholarships—and support from a favorite aunt—Josie will graduate with a degree in journalism in 2004. She’s a valued news editor for Austin Peay’s student newspaper, “The All State,” and expects to work at a daily after she graduates. Ultimately, she wants to pursue creative writing. “I want to write books someday.”

Josie Curtis
Sophomore, College of Arts & Letters
Journalism

D. Jonathan Jeans, like most American teens, was reared in a middle-class home by parents who appreciated the value of higher education. They had put money aside for years so their children could go to college.

But with two sons attending school at the same time, finding the money for tuition was a challenge. State funding for higher education steadily declined, so student fees and tuition continued to rise, putting middle-income families in an educational squeeze: too “well off” for financial aid, too “stretched” to cover all college costs.

When Jonathan got word that he would receive scholarships from the Luther Tippett funds and the President’s Emerging Leaders Program as he entered his freshman year, his family was thrilled.

The impact on Jonathan’s grades has been enormous. “The scholarships allowed me to excel by devoting time to school,” he says.

The scholarships had another benefit: Because he didn’t have to work at a full-time job to pay for tuition, Jonathan could participate in student activities and organizations. In his junior year, he was elected vice president of the Student Government Association.
“I learned as much from that as I did in the classroom,” Jonathan says. “How to interact with others. Time management skills. Leadership skills.” All highly useful in Jonathan’s planned future: to attend law school or become a CPA.
“Austin Peay and the scholarships I received have had a major impact on my life,” Jonathan says. “I’ve learned so much, and it’s been an incredible experience.”

Jonathan Jeans
Junior, College of Business
Accounting

In 2001, his senior year at Austin Peay, he was the Ohio Valley Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. A year later Trenton Hassell was named Player of the Year again—this time in his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls.

His skills on the court earned him a reputation as the Bulls’ top defensive player and led to his being called “the surprise of the draft” by just about everyone—except Bulls coach Bill Cartwright.

“Trenton was our best defender,” Cartwright says. “Every night he took on the other team’s best player and never complained about it.”

Those “best players” included Washington’s Michael Jordan, and though Jordan was one of the toughest players the Austin Peay alum guarded during the season, covering the famous forward was something Trenton still finds fabulously unreal. “Sometimes I think I’m dreaming,” he says.

Without a scholarship, that dream would never have become reality. Trenton might have been just another teen shooting hoops at the local community center.

“The basketball scholarship I got played a big part in my being able to attend college,” he says. “I didn’t have to worry about money. I could focus on hitting the books.” And, because his scholarship had a GPA component, hitting the books was a given if Trenton was to stay in the game.

Looking back, Trenton says he’s grateful for the emotional and academic support he received at Austin Peay. “With a low student/teacher ratio, the faculty could spend time with me. They were there for me when I needed help. It was like a family. Austin Peay changed my life.”

Trenton Hassell
Shooting Guard, Chicago Bulls
B.S. Health and Human Performance, 2001