Nearly 400 students and donors attended the event in the Don Morris Room of the Memorial Student Center, back after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Senior Airman Richard Tettey Tei-Wayo, first-year student in the School of Pharmacy from Ghana, Africa, recipient of the Meade & Althea Nance Smith Award, was the featured student speaker. Tei-Wayo has spent the past two years working on the front lines of the pandemic as a public health technician with the West Virginia Air National Guard, 130th Airlift Wing.
“As a public health technician during the COVID pandemic, I was part of the airmen that helped in making sure that almost everyone in the state of West Virginia got their COVID shots,” Tei-Wayo said during his remarks at the brunch. “We as the military service members distributed COVID vaccines across the state of West Virginia to the retail pharmacies, hospitals, health departments, and to communities where our older generations find it difficult to get access to these COVID vaccine supplies. For nine solid months I was on this COVID mission just to serve my community here in Huntington and across the state of West Virginia, as my service to the citizens of this state.”
Tei-Wayo came to the United States in 2007 through the United States Embassy Diversity Visa lottery. Now a U.S. citizen, he said support for scholarships gives hope for the future.
“I, for one, believe that people like you all, with your support and donation towards our future, gives us nothing but hope and motivation that our dreams could be fulfilled as long as we keep trying to be better students and better versions of ourselves,” he said. “Your support means a lot to us, and all we want to say is that, thank you for your support towards our future goals.”
Marshall President Brad D. Smith, 38th president of the university, was the featured speaker. Smith and his wife, Alys, established the Brad D. and Alys Smith Family Scholarship in 2014.
“Working together, I am convinced we will build on the strong foundation at Marshall and achieve even greater successes in the future,” Smith said. “I want to thank our generous donors for making a difference in a student’s life through supporting Marshall’s scholarship programs. I also want to congratulate Dr. Ron Area and his team for their outstanding work on behalf of our university.”
Dr. Ron Area, CEO and senior vice president of development of the Foundation, said there was a lot to celebrate at this year’s brunch.
“More students than ever before are receiving scholarship support thanks to the support from our amazing donors during the Marshall Rises campaign,” Area said. “We are excited to continue to build on our success and provide even more support to our deserving students.”
Marshall’s all-student contemporary a cappella ensemble, 3rd Avenue, performed under the direction of Dr. Briana Nannen.
To learn how to establish a scholarship to help students at Marshall, contact Krystle Davis at the Marshall University Foundation by phone at 304-696-6781 or by e-mail at krystle.davis@marshall.edu.
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Photo: From left, Ty Bayliss, Kristin Moyler, Brooke Jackson, John Anderson and Patty Anderson were among those who attended the 2022 Scholarship Honor Brunch. Photo by Shauntelle Thompson.