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President Mary Sue Coleman and her husband, Kenneth Coleman, are donating to a new fundraising challenge to allow more U-M students to study abroad.
The $25,000 gift, a combination of their personal funds and her salary increase this year, represents yet another commitment by the president to improve the programs and opportunities for students, faculty and staff at the University.
In 2003 the Colemans pledged a gift of $500,000 to the Michigan Difference Campaign to support the Life Sciences Institute, the Institute for Social Research, Trotter House renovation fund and other initiatives.
In 2007 she donated more than $15,000 — her salary increase for that year — to help boost financial aid for graduate and professional students.
“Living and learning in a different culture is an invaluable experience that prepares students for the global economy,” Coleman says. “I want to encourage students to visit other countries, particularly developing nations, and challenge themselves in their new surroundings. Increased financial support will make that possible.”
The donation launches a new donor challenge to encourage endowment gifts supporting study abroad. The President’s Office will provide $5 million from the president’s discretionary funds to encourage $10 million in gifts — or $1 match for each $2 gift — for a total of $15 million for the program. More details about the challenge will be released early next year.
“Mary Sue and Ken Coleman have been very generous donors to the University,” says Jerry May, vice president for development. “This latest gift is yet another example of their stepping forward to support priorities which greatly enrich the educational experience for our students.”
The study abroad experience helps students become more comfortable working and living in settings in which they must adapt to differing values, traditions, assumptions, attitudes and norms that will arise from cross cultural contact within a new global economy.
In 2007, 1,833 U-M undergraduates and 668 graduate students studied abroad. A year ago, when Coleman put forward goals for her second five-year term, she said she wanted to double the number of students studying abroad. A comprehensive survey of U-M’s graduating class of 2008 showed that students are interested in such experiences; about 70 percent of the 1,673 students who responded reported studying a foreign language.
“Disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, such as history, art and foreign languages, provide ample academic opportunities in different cultures. Along with increasing financial support for students, I want us to identify study opportunities for the less-obvious disciplines, such as technology and science,” Coleman says.
Under Coleman’s leadership, the Michigan Difference Campaign, which officially ends Dec. 31, has raised more than $3.1 billion. Coleman previously established two President’s Donor Challenges to encourage philanthropy to areas that she felt were of great importance: endowed professorships, need-based undergraduate support, and graduate and professional student financial support. The challenge to create 20 endowed professorships was met within eight months and donors stepped forward to make gifts meeting both student aid challenges before their end date.
