The Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Fellowship Endowment at the University of Tennessee has launched Thursday on Veterans Day.
Details about the Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Fellowship Endowment
The Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Fellowship Endowment is with the Haslam School of Business at UT. It will be awarded to an individual who is seeking their graduate studies and has family ties to the military, active or veteran status, Gold Star Family, or is coming from a service academy or a military university. A goal is to raise $25,000 by the end of 2021 and $50,000 by the end of 2022. If the public wishes to support the cause, they can donate to the GoFundMe here or below.
Donate to the Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Fellowship Endowment
How the Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Fellowship Endowment came about
When Will McNeeley learned about one of the fallen service members from the recent Afghanistan evacuation, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, was from the Knoxville, Tennessee area, he wanted to get connected with UT’s athletics director Danny White in raising money for a permanent seat in Neyland Stadium to honor his life.
Marcus Hilliard, UT asssociate athletics director and chief of staff, called McNeeley by acknowledging his tweet regarding an attempt to raise money for a seat at Neyland Stadium. Hilliard suggested to start a scholarship instead of a Neyland Stadium seat.
In a process to launch the Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Fellowship Endowment, Hilliard connected McNeeley with former Vols’ basketball player and UT’s assistant director of development for major gifts Steve Hamer.
Hamer traveled to Cartersville, Georgia, McNeeley’s residence, to have lunch and hear more about a vision and purpose of wanting to honor Staff Sgt. Knauss.
McNeeley was later invited to Knoxville to visit Hamer and Jerry Hanner, UT’s director of development at the Haslam School of Business.
Why it is important to McNeeley
“I am the son of a marine and grandson of two World War 2 veterans. One grandfather was a tailgunner on a bomber. The other was part of the Manhattan Project who worked on the Y12 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He helped develop fuel for atomic bombs. My families’ ties to the military run very deep, and thus, so does my respect, admiration and love for our nation’s military. They sacrifice so much to ensure our freedoms and values are intact everyday. When I heard about the service members in Afghanistan being killed in a terrorist attack, I immediately prayed to God to let him show me a way to give some respect to those service members. As an ordinary citizen, sometimes I wonder what actions I can take to honor the fallen, veterans and active service members. Other than telling them ‘Thank you for your service,’ or possibly donating to other causes, what more can I do? This is my way of doing something actionable that creates, not only a lasting legacy, but will impact more lives.” –Will McNeeley
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