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Read the Latest Alumni Grants News
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Download a 2007-2011 History of Alumni Association Grant Awards
The purpose of the the Western New England University Alumni Association Grants Program is to offer grants to alumni or members of the University community that support current student programs, student organization initiatives, Alumni Association initiatives, and student and alumni athletics.
Details of the program are as follows:
- The application form must be completed in its entirety and submitted to the Office of Alumni Relations by 4:00 p.m. on March 28, 2013.
- Applicant(s) must be an alumnus, student, staff, or faculty member of the Western New England University community.
- The proposed project must follow and be related to the stated purpose of the Grants Program as stated above.
- The Alumni Association funds projects in the $500 - $2,500 range. Awarding of funds and the amount of the award is at the discretion of the Grants Committee.
- Applications must be submitted online or must be type-written.
- Applicants selected for final review may be required to meet with the Grants Committee to discuss the merits of their proposals.
- Grant recipients are required to provide a final report to the Alumni Association Board of Directors detailing the success of the project funded and its impact on the University, students or alumni.
If you are interested in applying, please call 413-796-2240, send an email.
Alumni Grants News
May 2012
Alumni Association Awards More Than $43,000
in Grants to Student Organizations and Programs
When you shop at amazon.com via our custom link on the Alumni Website, Western New England students benefit, because every purchase you make online supports student programs at the University through Alumni Association grants—at no additional cost to you. For example, United and Mutually Equal (U&ME) was the recipient of an Alumni Association grant that supported the 2012 Ebony Food Fest and Gospel Concert in Rivers Memorial Hall (pictured). The annual event featured soul food and performances by various local choirs.
In total, 15 student organizations received more than $43,000 in Alumni Association grants in Fall 2011 and Spring 2012. The grant recipients included the College of Business and the College of Engineering for their Product Development and Innovation Course, the D’Amour Library to purchase a glass display case for archives exhibits, the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology for its middle school and high school Computer Summer Camp, and the Center for International Sport Business (CISB) for its two speaker programs “For the Love of the Games” and “A Brown Bag Series: People Who Inspire.” CISB also received a grant for a community service project in its Seminar Abroad 2012: London Olympics—the students will spend a day teaching underprivileged children in East London.
Grants were also awarded to the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development for GLBTQA programming and a development conference in Hartford, CT in November, the Office of First Year Students and Students in Transition for its Freshman Focus and Bear Tracks programs, and the University’s Music Program to present its Chamber Music Concert Series.
Also receiving grants were the Mortar Board Society, the Model United Nations, the University’s C.A.R.E. organization (Community Action Rewards Everyone) the sexual assault awareness group One in Four, the BEAR (Building Experiences Among Residents) program, the Program in Law and Society and, the campus’ National Residence Hall Honorary chapter.
In the past six years, the Alumni Association has awarded over $207,000 in grants, which are also funded by income from the Association’s royalty/affinity program with Liberty Mutual Home and Auto Insurance.
November 2011
Help Students: Do Your Holiday Shopping Online Using
The Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program
Do your holiday shopping by using our Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program link. Every purchase you make helps fund Alumni Association grants to student programs at Western New England—at no additional cost to you.
Amazon.com, America’s largest retailer, has the most diverse and extensive range of stock you will find online—with competitive prices and quick deliveries. Bookmark our link and save on everything you need by clicking on “Today’s Deals,” which include Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals with low prices and sales on electronics, video games, DVDs, and more.
In the past five years, the Alumni Association has awarded more than $164,000 in grants to student groups and organizations. Be a part of this exciting program and save money while checking off your gift list!
June 2011
Alumni Association Grant Helps Students Examine
Health Care Issues in Guatemala
While many students headed home for their summer vacation, 13 Western New England students went down to Central America to explore health care in rural Guatemala. This 12-day trip May 17-28 was the culmination of a semester-long Global Health and Technology course. Their mission was to examine different health issues facing different populations around the world and the technology that is being developed to solve them. Read the students’ blog.
The trip was partially funded by a grant from the Alumni Association grants program. The Alumni Association has awarded more than $164,000 in grants over the past five years.
Michael Rust, one of the two faculty members leading the trip, said the expedition was designed to explore the specific health care challenges that the people of Guatemala are facing. The biomedical engineering professor said one of the goals was for students to “use the information gathered during our trip to develop projects that can be worked on by our students in future iterations of the course.”
Electrical Engineering Professor Steven Northrup, who had the privilege of co-leading his third Guatemala trip with students, said that one goal of the excursion was for the students to “go outside our normal comfort zones to engage the people of Guatemala and learn from their experiences.” The students “stepped up in this area through the completion of oral interviews in Spanish with hospital staff and patients, as well as keeping a running dialogue with the local people we encountered,” he added.
The students, according to their blog, enjoyed “an incredible learning experience,” observing the differences in how hospitals operate in the United States and Guatemala, particularly the discrepancies in infrastructure and how patients pay for care.
Rust was especially “proud of the professionalism, positive attitude, and openness to learning that our students demonstrated while abroad.” One of Guatemala’s finest educational institutions, the University of San Carlos, signed a partnership agreement with Western New England. This arrangement will help facilitate the group’s health assessments and future research initiatives.
—This story was written by Office of Alumni Relations Intern Steven Bernstein ’12.
May 2011
Alumni Association Awards Nearly $12,000 in
Grants to Student Organizations and Programs
The student group One in Four, the recipient of one of 11 Alumni Association grantsthis spring, hosted a fundraiser called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” on April 17 (pictured). The event featured men slipping into high heels and walking one mile around campus, raising not only awareness of sexual assault, but also money for the YWCA of Western Massachusetts, which provides services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
In total, eight student organizations recently received almost $12,000 in Alumni Association grants, which are funded by income from the Association’s Liberty Mutual Western New England College Group Savings program and the Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program. The Alumni Association has awarded more than $164,000 in grants over the past five years.
The grant recipients included the College’s Biomedical Engineering Society for a national Society conference in Hartford, CT, October 12-15, and the Center for International Sport Business for the distinguished speaker series “For the Love of the Games.”
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Michael Rust and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Steve Northrup received a grant for a field experience in Guatemala: their students in the new course Global Health and Technology are spending a month in this developing country (May 11-June 11) to study challenges that face the global health community there and the technologies that are being developed to solve them.
Grants were also awarded to United and Mutually Equal (U&ME) for international student programming and the annual World Fest, which celebrates cultures across the globe with several events.
Community Action Rewards Everyone (CARE) received grants to help fund four events: a “senior” prom at the St. Luke’s Home assisted living facility in downtown Springfield, a Halloween field trip with children from the Gray House (a human service agency in Springfield’s North End), a spring carnival at the Children’s Study Home in Sixteen Acres, and Read Across America activities with schoolchildren next March.
In addition, the Western New England Music program received a grant for its Chamber Music concert series.
May 2011
Students in Sustainability 101 Course Celebrate the
“Flowers of their Labor”—a Pollinator Garden
The meridian, surrounded by curbing in the parking lot behind 14 and 20 Valley Road, appeared to be rocky and barren—an unlikely place to grow flowers. But that’s exactly what students in the inaugural Sustainability 101 class did, planting a pollinator garden designed to attract butterflies, bees, other flying insects, and hummingbirds. Thanks in part to a grant from the Alumni Association, along with much hard work and cooperation, the garden became a reality.
On May 5, the students met in Emerson 207 for a celebration of the creation of the pollinator garden (pictured below), and they were joined by their professor, Associate Professor of Sociology Michaela Simpson, President Anthony S. Caprio, Director of Institutional Research and Planning Richard Wagner, and Director of Alumni Relations Kathy Pappas G’98. Pictured are, back row, (L-R) Ian Mulcahy, Jeffrey Palma, Wagner, President Caprio, Simpson, Jaynie Mueller, Anthony Medina, Lisa Burton, Nick Tougas, Roland Murdock, Vincent Weyel, John Arvanitis, Tyler Gerhardson, and Pappas.
The garden grew out of Simpson’s desire for a project that would allow students to work together as a community of learners and apply the concepts of sustainability in a practical way. The students learned the important role that flying insects play in the pollination of plants, which is crucial for ecosystem sustainability. The class agreed that the garden site would provide a much-needed insertion of greenery into an asphalt strip at Western New England, “and as the garden begins to flourish, it will provide a beacon of sustainability for the rest of the campus,” said student John Arvanitis.
But there was a problem: planting on the heels of one of Springfield’s snowiest winters ever. The snow came with a vengeance in January and February, and the persistent white stuff even fell as late as April 1. “It seemed like it would never cease,” said Simpson. “There was real fear—would the snow piled on the meridian melt in time for planting?” said Simpson. “Would the soil merely be mud?”
Fortunately, the soil was fine on the planting days of April 16 and 17, when students traveled to Simpson’s house in Springfield’s Forest Park neighborhood and collected plants—some of them waiting in pots, and other dug up from her own garden. The pollination garden, measuring 9 ½-by-65 feet, consists of 17 species of flowers, including daffodils, Goldstorm Coneflowers, and David’s Lavendar flowers.
Student Lisa Covert points out that pollinator gardens not only strengthen biodiversity, but also provide psychological benefits in both urban and suburban neighborhoods. Students, “as well as residents in the area, including neighbors on Valley Road, and walkers or joggers passing by, can enjoy the garden and intake the natural beauty” of the plants.
April 2011
For the Love of the Games: USA Soccer's Sunil Gulati
A robust, soccer-savvy crowd filled Sleith Auditorium on March 31 to hear USA Soccer President Sunil Gulati address various issues about the state of the sport in America. His visit was in conjunction with the Center for International Sport Business Distinguished Visitor Program, “For the Love of the Games,” made possible by underwriting support of the Office of Alumni Relations and the Alumni Association via an Alumni Association grant.
In an hour-long “conversation” moderated by Sport Management Professor and Department Chair Dr. Sharianne Walker, Gulati responded to questions about the U.S. National Team’s performance in the 2010 World Cup, the bid campaign to host the 2022 World Cup, and the future of USA Soccer.
December 2010
Alumni Association Awards Nearly $20,000 in
Grants to Student Organizations and Programs
Once a year, Rivers Memorial Hall is transformed into a veritable United Nations during World Fest. Hosted by the multicultural student group United and Mutually Equal (U&ME), the event is part of Diversity Week on campus, celebrating cultures across the globe through food, music, dance, and a fashion show.
U&ME recently received a grant from the Alumni Association to help defray costs for the 11th annual World Fest in 2011. The group was one of 17 student organizations and programs to recently receive 18 Alumni Association grants.
This past fall the Alumni Association awarded more than $19,700 in grants, which are funded by income from the Association’s Liberty Mutual Western New England College Group Savings program, the Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program, and alumni apparel purchases. The Alumni Association has awarded more than $152,000 in grants over the past four years.
Recent grant recipients included the Center for International Sport Business for its “For the Love of the Games” speaker program, the Global Sustainability Club for the Earth Week and Earth Day Festival, the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development to further enhance the GLBTQ Resource Room, the sexual assault awareness group One in Four, and the V-Day Committee for theatre performances to increase awareness of violence against women and girls.
The Residence Hall Association received a grant for the Tunnel of Oppression Tour (an interactive educational experience exploring prejudice and bigotry), as did the Model United Nations Club to attend conferences at Harvard University and Mount Holyoke College. The Biomedical Engineering Society received a grant for members to attend the Northeast Bioengineering Conference, and the Office of Learning Beyond the Classroom will use its grant for The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day Challenge.
Community Action Rewards Everyone (C.A.R.E) received two grants: one to present a spring carnival at the Children’s Study Home in Springfield, and the other for a Read Across America “read to a child” effort at local elementary schools on Dr. Seuss’ birthday March 2.
Also receiving grants were The School of Arts and Sciences’ Sustainability Major for a pollination garden, the History course World War II and the Holocaust for a field trip to the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York City, the English Department for its published authors’ reading program, and the Office of First Year Students and Students in Transition for its Bear Tracks/Urban Plunge program.
The BEAR Program received a grant for the BEAR Olympics (formerly the Freshman Olympics, and the College’s chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers will use its grant to participate in the 2011 Northeast Regional Institute of Industrial Engineers Conference at Pennsylvania State University.
July 2010
Support Students While You Shop: Alumni
Association Teams Up With Amazon.com
When you shop at amazon.com via our custom link, Western New England College students benefit! Every purchase you make online supports student programs at the College through Alumni Association grants—at no additional cost to you. Feel free to use this access for all of your amazon.com orders. Bookmark the link on your computer at home and/or in the office!
In the past three years, the Alumni Association has awarded over $126,000 in grants, which are also funded by income from the Association’s royalty/affinity program with Liberty Mutual Home and Auto Insurance, as well as from Alumni Association apparel purchases.
Alumni Association grant recipients this past spring included the Alternative Spring Break program, the One in Four sexual assault prevention group, the Center for International Sport Business, the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development for its Senior Success Series, the Volunteer Connection Center for its Make a Difference Weekend, and the finance and accounting honor society Beta Alpha Psi for members to attend the national organization’s annual meeting in San Jose, CA, in August.
June 2010
Want a Behind-the-Scenes Look at “Seminar Abroad:
2010 FIFA World Cup/South Africa?” Read the Blog
On June 8, eleven students and two faculty members departed Western New England College and headed for South Africa to witness the most popular sporting event in the world—soccer’s World Cup. The Western New England College delegation flew from New York to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where they had time to snap some photos (above, left) before continuing on to Johannesburg.
The trip, funded in part by a $1,000 Alumni Association Grant, is part of the School of Business’ “Seminar Abroad: 2010 FIFA World Cup/South Africa.” Students spent the spring semester studying the social, political, and economical dynamics of international soccer and modern-day South Africa under the direction of professor Dan Covell. During the 8-day trip, the Western New England College group plans to attend four games and blog about the experience.
Off the field, the students will take a behind-the-scenes tour of the FIFA International Broadcast Center, the media nerve center that allows fans in 200-plus countries to be tuned in to the spectacle that is the World Cup. The group will also visit Soweto, the township famous for the 1976 uprisings in protest of the then-government’s apartheid policy. The township was the boyhood home of Nobel Peace Prize winners Nelson Madela and Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Professor Curt Hamakawa L’83, director of the Western New England College Center for International Sport Business, is leading the trip along with Covell. To read Hamakawa's blog about the journey, click here or visit www.centerforinternationalsportbusiness.blogspot.com. There you will also find links to blogs by students Dave Quackenbush and Tim Conrod.
May 2010
Alumni Association Awards More than $16,000 in
Grants to Student Organizations and Programs
On May 1, men on campus took a stand against sexual assault by taking a walk—in high heels (pictured). The “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event, which raised funds for sexual assault prevention programs at the YWCA of Western Massachusetts, was hosted by One in Four, one of 12 student organizations and programs to receive Alumni Association grants this spring.
The Alumni Association recently awarded more than $16,000 in grants, which are funded by income from the Association’s Liberty Mutual Western New England College Group Savings program, the Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program, and alumni apparel purchases.
Grant recipients this spring included the Center for International Sport Business, the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development for its Senior Success Series, the Volunteer Connection Center for its Make a Difference Weekend, and the finance and accounting honor society Beta Alpha Psi for members to attend the national organization’s annual meeting in San Jose, CA, in August.
Also receiving Alumni Association grants were Computer Science and Information Technology to help fund its computer summer camp for area children, the Bear Tracks’ Urban Plunge community service program, and the College’s Music Program for its Chamber Music Concert Series.
The Alternative Spring Break program received two grants: one for a scholarship fund for participants, and one for its annual fundraising dinner. Also receiving a pair of grants were Community Action Rewards Everyone (CARE) and the Residence Hall Association (RHA). The first grant to CARE was to help fund its National Hunger Week efforts, and the second was for its volunteer initiative at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, MA. The grants to the RHA will help fund its attendance at the National Association of College and University Residence Halls conference in San Diego in June, as well as its “We Have Never Been So Close” Service Extravaganza.
For more information on the Alumni Association grants program, click here.
April 2010
Omicron Delta Kappa Inducts 21 Students;
Alumni Return for Leadership Roundtable
The Western New England College chapter of the Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) national leadership honor society inducted 21 students during a ceremony on April 25 at Sleith Hall. The 22 graduating ODK members were also recognized. The evening featured a Leadership Roundtable composed of ODK alumni and Circle Founders (pictured L-R with retiring Dean of Freshmen and Transfer Students Ted Zern) Jessica Garcia ’06, Marisa Sullivan ’07, and Nathan Schwartz ’06 (at right).
The Roundtable was funded in part by a $2,000 grant from the Alumni Association Grants Program.
ODK recognizes and encourages achievement in scholarship, athletics, campus or community service, social and religious activities as well as campus government, journalism, speech and the mass media, and creative and performing arts.
ODK inducted the following students: Ashley Arpino, Stephanie Blair, Rachel Bradshaw, Allison Breen, Jason Criscuolo, Brittany Decker, Jessica DiPietro, Erika Ellis, Christopher Fontaine, David Gay, David Griffin, Daniel Jacobs, Ashley Koundry, Matthew LaBombard, Samantha Moniz, Christopher Nuhfer, Carey Reed, Danielle Remigio, Benjamin Senderling, Christina Strezo, and Jenna Swartz.
April 2010
Cognitive and Social Development in Classroom
Contexts Examined at Psi Chi Alumni Colloquium
Cognitive and Social Development in Classroom Contexts” was the title of an April 15 lecture from Dr. Bethany Fleck ’04 (pictured). The talk, which took place at the Downes Hall of Fame, marked the Second Annual Psi Chi Alumni Colloquium at Western New England College.
Financial support for the Colloquium was provided by a grant from the Alumni Association and the College’s chapter of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. A reception preceded the presentation.
For more information, contact Psychology Professor Sheralee Tershner at 413-796-2193.
April 2010
The Stageless Players' Spring Production of
Clue Will be Performed on April 16 and 17
Who killed Mr. Boddy? Find out at the Stageless Players’ Spring 2010 Production of Clue on April 16 and 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Sleith 100. Tickets will be on sale in the St. Germain Campus Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. from April 12 to April 16. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
Tickets cost $4 for students, and $5 for the general public. The Stageless Players received a $1,200 Alumni Association grant last fall to assist with this production. This grant was one of 25 Alumni Association grants totaling more than $34,000 awarded to 24 student organizations.
In the past three years, the Alumni Association has awarded over $110,000 in grants, which are funded by income from the Association’s Liberty Mutual Western New England College Group Savings program and the Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program.
Thanks to a special arrangement between the College and Liberty Mutual, a percentage of each premium from alumni enrolled in the Liberty Mutual Western New England College Group Savings program goes to the Alumni Association Grants Program.
The Alumni Association Amazon Associates Program allows you to make your amazon.com purchases by clicking on the link on the Alumni Website. The Alumni Association will receive a percentage of your purchases at no additional cost to you.
January 2010
Alumni Association Awards a Record $34,100 in
Grants to Student Organizations and Programs
The Alumni Association recently awarded more than $34,100 in grants to 24 student organizations and programs, including a $2,500 grant Alternative Spring Break (ASB), whose students are pictured repairing trails last March at the Land Between the Lakes national recreation area in Kentucky.
In the past three years, the Alumni Association has awarded over $110,000 in grants, which are funded by income from the Association’s royalty/affinity programs with Liberty Mutual Home and Auto Insurance. Every new alumni enrollment in the Liberty Mutual Group Savings Plan benefits students.
The grant to ASB, which was allocated to a scholarship fund for participants, “allowed my dream of going on Alternative Spring Break become a reality,” said student Daniel Rich. “The grant was important to me because it allows the financial burden to be lifted off my parents’ shoulders.”
Students participating in ASB in March 2010 will travel in three teams to the following locations: the Appalachian South Folk Life Center in Pipestem, WV, where they will repair homes for senior citizens and for those who have physical disabilities; to Camp Vacamas in West Milford, NJ, where they prepare a summer camp for children, and to the Shawnee National Forest in Murphysboro, IL. The students in the latter trip will work on environmental restoration and preservation projects and assist with trail maintenance.
The LaRiviere Living and Learning Center also received a $2,500 grant for its residence program. Receiving a $2,000 grant were the U&ME Connections Mentoring Program for its mentor training retreat, the Center for International Sport Business for its speaker series, the Offices of Student Activities and Residence Life for its Senior Success Series, Omicron Delta Kappa for its Leadership Round Table, the School of Business for its Learn2Succeed program, and Building Experiences Among Residents for the Freshman Olympics.
Also receiving grants were the Global Sustainability Club (Earth Week 2010), Diversity Programs and Services (GLBTQ Resource Room), the V-Day Committee (V-Day events on campus), the Office of Freshmen and Transfer Students (Pre-Pharmacy Workshop Series), the Stageless Players (a spring semester play), The School of Engineering Outreach Committee (outreach activities), the Social Work Department (a trip to Washington, DC to visit the national headquarters of the National Association of Social Workers, etc.), Community Action Rewards Everyone (a spring carnival at the Children’s Study Home, a Valentine’s Day dinner dance at the St. Luke’s Home assisted living facility), the Residence Hall Association (Annual Spring Fling), and the Society of Women Engineers (the Society’s alumnae dinner).
Other student organizations received grants to attend conferences: One in Four (expenditures for hosting a conference and for its ongoing program), the Model United Nations Club (a trip to Model UN Conferences at Harvard University and Mt. Holyoke College), the Psychology Club (the Eastern Psychological Association Conference in New York City), the Biomedical Engineering Society (Northeast Conference in New York City), and the National Society for Black Engineers (the NSBE Annual Convention in Parsippany, NJ).
May 2009:
Possibilities Children’s Safety Symposium Scholarships
Available for Western New England College Alumni
February, 2009:
Fourth Annual Alternative Spring Break Pasta Dinner
Raises More Than $1,600 for Volunteer Service
December, 2008:
Alumni Association Awards Over $28,000 in Grants
For Student Programs on Campus and Beyond
The Alumni Association Grants Program:
Making a Difference in the College Community
Alumni Association Grant Helps Fund “Kids in
Computing” Event for Springfield Area Students
An Alumni Association grant funded the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Pasta Dinner on February 23, 2008.
January, 2008:
Helping Students: Alumni Association Awards
Over $15,000 in Grants to Campus Organizations
January, 2007:
Alumni Association Awards Grants to Five Campus Organizations