A Ventnor couple has donated
$50,000 to create a permanent source of scholarships for Stockton University
students.
The Michelle and H. Paxson Keates Endowed Scholarship ensures “that Stockton
students will continue to receive scholarship funds in (the Keateses’) name in
perpetuity,” university President Harvey Kesselman said.
“We wanted to do something impactful and permanent that can grow,” said Michelle
Keates, who graduated from Stockton in 1976. “The plan is to continue adding to
it.”
Keates was a co-creator and chair of the first Scholarship Benefit Gala in
1980, and she and Paxson established their first annual scholarship nearly a
decade ago.
“It’s not just the financial help,” she said. “It’s also motivational to give
students a step up and show we support them. We want to help build tomorrow’s
leaders.”
Michelle Keates is also a member of the Stockton Foundation Board of Directors.
The foundation awarded more than 500 scholarships in 2018-19, according to Stockton
Chief Development Officer and Executive Director of the Foundation Dan Nugent.
The application period for next year is underway.
“It is through generous endowments like the Keates’ that we can continue to
give our students the assistance they need to graduate with less debt,” Nugent
said.
Scholarships have an immediate impact on a student’s life and education, Foundation
Chair Johanna Johnson said: “Every scholarship reduces financial stress and
helps make a student’s life a little easier.”
