Nine student doctors at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) will have decreased financial burdens following a luncheon celebrating their selection as scholarship recipients.
A total of $50,000 was awarded for the 2024-25 academic year through the West Virginia Emulation Endowment/Dr. Olen E. Jones Jr. Incoming Student Scholarship awards. Since 2021, the Maier Foundation – a private, nonprofit charitable corporation based in Charleston, WV, that focuses on higher education – has challenged the WVSOM Foundation with an escalating scholarship match. The challenge grant required the foundation to raise funds for scholarship endowments or for current use. Upon completion of each challenge match, a matching contribution was made to the Dr. Olen E. Jones Jr. Scholarship at the West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust to benefit WVSOM students.
“The Maier Foundation is one of our 10 largest donors. Including this year’s awards, we have been able to award 19 current-use scholarships totaling $150,000 to incoming students from the Maier Foundation,” said Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations. “Additionally, the Maier Foundation, through the West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust, has provided 24 scholarships totaling $69,100 since 2018. That’s 33 scholarships totaling $219,100 to date.”
Scholarship recipients for the current academic year were Margaret Ann Rice of Union, Emma Beatty, Morgan Christian, Dalton Coleman, Andrew Cook, Micah Hancock, Casey King, Alexus Tygrett and Lukas Williams.
Morgan Christian, a Class of 2028 student from Barboursville, WV, said the scholarship funds will help her attain her goal of becoming a physician, since she is the first in her family to attend medical school.
“This award allows me to give more back to my community and to my home state of West Virginia and focus less on the financial burden of medical school,” she said. “Giving back to West Virginia residents helps keep us in the state so we can continue to help our population. Any amount of money helps.”
WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., said financial gifts made by charitable nonprofits are invaluable to medical students who incur large debts.
“Our corporate and business partners are the lifeblood of the WVSOM Foundation. Their generosity and enthusiasm keep us motivated. The Maier Foundation is a West Virginia-based foundation that is doing exceptional work throughout the state,” he said. “I am filled with gratitude that they recognized an opportunity to assist our medical students with alleviating their financial burdens, and that WVSOM has partnered with such an amazing organization for the past six years.”
