ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Trustee Katherine Weaver and her husband, Mike, have made a generous gift that supports students who are among the university's highest achievers.
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ trustee Katherine S. Weaver and her husband, Mike, of Greensboro made a significant gift in June to the Honors Fellows Scholarship program, offering high academic achievers the opportunity to study at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ.
The Weavers’ gift establishes the Weaver Family Endowed Honors Fellows Scholarship, meeting one of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s highest priorities of creating more scholarships and financial aid opportunities for deserving students.
Honors Fellows is a merit-based scholarship whose recipients have the highest academic profiles at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. It is a demanding and dynamic program geared toward development of strong writing and critical thinking skills that foster scholarly research. Honors Fellows earn the highest awards on campus and compete nationally for prestigious fellowships and accolades.
This gift by the Weavers continues a great tradition of philanthropy at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, starting with support for establishment of the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ School of Law in Greensboro. Katherine Weaver was named to the Board of Trustees in 2007 and knows the importance of scholarships to the university.
“I was interested in supporting scholarships because the cost of college is so high today and helping students get there is so important,” she says. “We want to encourage the best students to come to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ.”
The Weaver family has made numerous gifts to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, including the Sidney J. Stern, Jr. Endowed Scholarship to the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ School of Law, named in honor of Katherine Weaver’s late father and made in conjunction with her mother, Katherine Goodman Stern.
“We’re happy to support ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. I love its sense of community; its faculty and staff commitment to students; and the school’s ability to experiment and create the best learning opportunities for students. It’s what inspires me to give to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ,” she says.
Honors Fellows is among the most inspiring programs at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. Selected students join a community of their peers from all majors who take part in a rigorous curriculum that provides a framework for them to develop as scholars, lifelong learners and community leaders. Honors Fellows are housed together, support serious study but also have fun. They work with dedicated faculty mentors, conduct significant research and take part in studies abroad.
Students from the Honors Fellows program are winning highly competitive national and international fellowships such as the Fulbright, Truman and Udall awards. After graduation many are accepted into acclaimed graduate programs or move into prestigious jobs to launch their professional careers.
The Weaver family has a long history of philanthropy. She serves or has served as a trustee on several foundations, including the William A. Stern Foundation, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Weatherspoon Arts Foundation, the Weaver Foundation and the Center for Community Self-Help.
She is the president of Residence Development Company, a real estate development, management and investing firm. She chairs the board of directors for the Weaver Group, an investment company directed by husband Mike.
The “Opening Doors” story series celebrates the power of scholarships to change the lives of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ students and the generosity of donors who make this transformation possible.