Retired faculty, staff establish scholarship to support aspiring leaders

Retired employees of Northwest Missouri State University – having dedicated decades of service in their varied roles to helping students succeed – are maintaining that covenant by establishing a scholarship to support student leaders.

The Northwest Retiree Association, in partnership with the Northwest Foundation, recently established the Northwest Retiree Leadership Scholarship and is now raising funds to endow the scholarship.

“Leaders determine the course for change in the world, whether they are officially labeled leaders or leading by example,” said Dr. Christine Benson, who retired in 2020 after 23 years of teaching mathematics and statistics at Northwest. “Leaders also come from all major programs. Since the membership of the Northwest Retiree Association comes from many different departments, and were both faculty and staff, focusing on leadership was a logical choice.”

The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time Northwest student serving as an ambassador of Lead Green, a non-credit, co-curricular-based program at the University that is designed to develop leaders who will impact the greater campus community. Lead Green students develop knowledge and skills through a multi-tiered program that includes a leadership module, workshops and a mentorship program. Through the leadership program, students cultivate skills to succeed personally and professionally.

Students serving as Lead Green ambassadors may mentor as many as 50 aspiring student leaders during an academic year. As their impacts multiply, positively influencing their peers and student organizations, the University also hopes the program enhances retention and student success.  

Creating a scholarship has been a goal of the Retiree Association since its founding in 2018.

“We want to promote Northwest and help students,” Rosalie Weathermon, the organization’s president said. “As employees, we did that during all of our tenures at Northwest, and we want to continue to give back.”

The Northwest Retiree Association serves as a resource to assist University employees with transitioning to retired life while maintaining a connection with Northwest and providing a community for social and intellectual activities. Any former Northwest employee and spouses or partners are invited to join the organization.

More than 50 individuals are active in the group, accounting for nearly 1,200 total years of employment at the University.

Weathermon retired from Northwest in 2015 after 15 years of employment in Career Services and has been a member of the Retiree Association since its inception. She also is a Northwest alumna, having earned a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration at the University.

“It’s such a transition from working to retiree life, and there are a number of ways that we can help that transition,” she said. “There are also emotional transitions as you move from the area of life as an employee to life as a retiree. It is a big transition in life, so we want to be able to help each other and connect with each other, have a good time, and also support each other.”

The association hopes that establishing the Northwest Retiree Leadership Scholarship will contribute to the University’s work of developing leaders and providing students with the tools and resources to be successful.

“We want to support the University and support students and employees of the University,” said Dr. Bob Dewhirst, who retired from Northwest in 2016 and was a member of the political science faculty for 33 years. “Our loyalty to Northwest doesn’t end with our last day of full employment.”

Support the Northwest Retiree Leadership Scholarship by visiting rjf2.honornm.com/alumni/nwretirees/retireescholarship.htm, or make a gift to another Northwest fund by contacting the Office of University Advancement at 660.562.1248 or by visiting rjf2.honornm.com/GiveOnline.

For more information about the Northwest Retiree Association and opportunities to get involved, visit rjf2.honornm.com/alumni/nwretirees/ or send an email to nwretirees@honornm.com.