The Alumni Fund is transforming from offering scholarships to providing grants to student clubs and organizations. The new name—Eagles Helping Eagles— indicates the fund’s new purpose.
“We were looking for ways to impact more students,” says alumni director, Tamara Sauer ’02, MA ’18. “Alumni board members suggested contacting clubs and organizations on campus to discover what they were doing and how to support students even more.”
The board invited student clubs and organizations to apply for a grant for specific purposes. Four clubs received funding: the Hawai'i club, Beloved women’s ministry, Enactus, and Pi Epsilon Kappa.
Seniors Payton Walter and Natalie Bergler, the Beloved women’s ministry coordinators, applied for an Eagles Helping Eagles grant to help fund their annual women’s retreat, which this year took place at a cabin near Lake Arrowhead with nearly 30 students.
“The retreat is often the most impacting women’s ministry event of the school year,” says Walter. “It provides a place to deepen your relationship with others and God in an environment that steps away from the stress and typical routine of school.”
The emphasis this year was on a Christian woman’s identity as a daughter of the King.
“We want all young women on campus to see they are beloved daughters of the King,” Bergler says. “We want them to know we are loved in the midst of all the lies the world tells us.”
Alumna Heather Manning ’94 led the female students through the book of Ephesians.
“There were a lot of beautiful discussions,” Walter says. “The entire group sat around the table laughing, praying together, being vulnerable, and sharing our stories.”
The retreat was made possible because of the Eagles Helping Eagles grant.
Back on campus, Sheri Ann Tengan, student leader of Ka Pu’uhonua (Hawai'i Club), is using the grant they received to create an annual luau experience, to “bring a part of Hawai'i to campus and showcase Hawaiian and Polynesian culture.”
This support will help us provide authentic food and flower arrangements, a bigger performance aspect and games during the meal,” she says.
“This support will help us provide authentic food and flower arrangements, a bigger performance aspect and games during the meal,” she says.
Enactus, a club affiliated with the School of Business and Economics, provides microfinance loans to support aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries. The grant funds will support the loans and travel costs for CUI students to visit the recipients.
Aaron Richardson, president of Phi Epsilon Kappa, an honors fraternity for students in health-related fields such as kinesiology, pre-nursing and physical therapy, says the Eagles Helping Eagles funds they received are going toward senior gifts and a scholarship for the member of the year.
“We hold our students to an academic standard and emphasize community service,” he says. “Our members give so much in service hours. It’s a great opportunity to give back to them to show them our gratitude.”
Sauer says the alumni committee members are “thrilled because they get to interview student recipients and come alongside them to offer funds and ideas, and listen to what they’re doing. We’re really hopeful it will continue to involve more alums in a variety of ways.”