The Richland County Campus Foundation, which raises funds to give financial support to students at UW-Platteville Richland, hosted its first Donor Reception on campus since 2019. Rosanne Knower, the Foundation’s executive director, was pleased to be able to bring donors and the students receiving their donations together again, after a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our many donors and their families are always glad to meet current students, and I think it's good for students to see that their scholarship awards come from real people, who care about the students’ future, and the future of the Richland campus,” said Knower. "Richland offers such a good, smart way for families to invest in these students' future, and I am particularly glad to see so many parents, grandparents and students' other cheerleaders here, plus such a great turnout of faculty and staff, who are the real backbone of the Richland campus."
At the Nov.15 reception in the campus’ Pippin Conference Center, donors, students and their family and staff supporters came together to share each other’s company, and learn more about their now-common history and connection with the Richland campus. Sophomore Aliyah Sander spoke to the group and thanked the donors for their belief in the campus and its students, who she said were grateful for a place like Richland to help them transition into college life.
“I don’t know if I would have been able to succeed without the small classes and great friends I’ve been able to make at Richland,” said Sander, who is planning on transitioning to the Platteville campus with a biology major and studying chiropractic medicine when she graduates from UW-Platteville Richland in spring 2023.
Every student enrolled full time at UW-Platteville Richland who applies to the Foundation is guaranteed a minimum annual scholarship of $1,200, with many receiving substantially more. That $1,200 “Richland Promise” is the cornerstone of the Foundation’s support of Richland students. Total scholarship payments from the Foundation on students’ behalf totaled over $40,000 for the fall 2022 semester.
Sophomore Jake Steele met one his scholarship sponsors, Barbara Blackmore, and told her how her generosity would be helping him finish at UW-Platteville Richland and get ready to transfer to Florida State University.
“It was so nice to meet her and get the chance to thank her for being so generous,” said Steele.
Between the Richland Promise and the other scholarships he received, Steele will be able to finish his first two years debt-free, which he said “will be tremendous.”
“The Foundation’s support guarantee to all students makes Richland one of the very best education values in Wisconsin,” said Dr. Michael Compton, the assistant provost for branch campus operations with UW-Platteville, who oversees UW-Platteville Richland. Annual tuition and fees for in-state students at Richland is $5,641 per year, before the Richland Promise scholarship that lowers that cost by over 20%, and is key to the campus recruiting students, added Compton.