On Tuesday, Feb. 28, contributors came to the Faculty and Staff Campaign Celebration at the Western Gallery to celebrate the impact their philanthropy has had on the Western community. The Western Foundation has raised over $350,000 at the halfway point of their 2017 campaign said David Hamiter, the foundation's faculty and staff campaign chair. The donations from 363 people in Western’s community will fund scholarships and programs, Hamiter said. “These endowments allow us to spend money in ways that we can’t spend state funds,” Hamiter said. “It provides opportunities to build our community as well as training and socializing opportunities, just making our life here at Western more interesting.” President Sabah Randhawa gave the opening speech at the reception to highlight the importance of philanthropic giving. “The foundation is critical to raise resources for student scholarships, fellowships, hiring exceptional faculty and to build new facilities to support educational practice,” Randhawa said. “We don’t get all those resources from the state.” The keynote speaker at the event was graduate student Megan Carter. Carter has received multiple scholarships through the philanthropy of the Western Foundation and is the general manager for their phonathon.
