KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo Promise is a real gift to Kalamazoo Public School Graduates, but until now it would only get them to the front door of WMU’s Medical School.
On Thursday, November 10, the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine launched a fund drive to help finance their own “WMED Promise Scholarship.”
Dean Paula Termuhlen, made the announcement at Thursday’s annual Donors Appreciation Luncheon. Currently there are two Kalamazoo Public School graduates enrolled at WMED, and officials are looking to increase that number.
Dr. Termuhlen says “Kalamazoo has long been recognized as a national leader in supporting higher education with the launch of The Kalamazoo Promise scholarship program more than 16 years ago. Now with the Wmed Promise Scholarship we can make a medical education at WMed accessible and more affordable for graduates of KPS.”
The aim is to take KPS Grads who are Promise scholars and create doctors who will stay and practice in Kalamazoo.
Dr. Termuhlen says their hope is that it will create a steady supply of new doctors for Bronson and Ascension Borgess and other healthcare facilities in the community, along with helping many who come from situations, neighborhoods and families that would not be able to aspire to a medical degree otherwise.
The W-Med Promise model will follow that of the original Promise, generating a sizable endowment that if successful, will provide scholarships into perpetuity, making it distinct and separate from the Kalamazoo Promise.
Reporting by: John McNeill
Comments