ISSUED: 18 March 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University Foundation has accepted a major gift in support of Shepherd University’s Seeding Your Future Initiative (SYFI). The gift was made by Shepherdstown resident Mary C. Bell in memory of her late wife, Sandra Jenkins.
The Seeding Your Future Initiative was founded in 2015 by Dr. Sytil Murphy, associate professor of physics, and Dr. Jordan Mader, former assistant professor of chemistry. The program aims to encourage middle school-age girls in grades 5-8 to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
SYFI began as a free one-day conference funded by a public outreach grant from the West Virginia Space Consortium. The following year, the program was awarded the inaugural Shepherd University learning project grant from Women Investing in Shepherd (WISH), a women’s giving circle sponsored by the Shepherd University Foundation. The three-year grant totaling $26,250 allowed Murphy and Mader to expand the program to include a series of monthly workshops for high school students in grades 8-12 featuring in-depth exploration into different areas of STEM.
In 2018, Kay Dartt, manager of Shepherd’s Fine Art, Science, Technology, Engineering, Educational Resource (FASTEnER) Lab, joined SYFI as an organizer. The collaboration established SYFI as a definitive STEAM-focused program that utilizes outside artists working alongside and with STEM professionals.
In early 2020, an article about SYFI in the Shepherd University Magazine noted the program was on hiatus following an unsuccessful bid to secure additional funding. It was this feature that motivated Bell to make her gift as a tribute to her late wife, who had long believed that STEM fields would benefit from more women and vice versa. Sandra Jenkins had a deep appreciation for the SYFI Initiative during her life.
“Sandra was a great believer in ‘the spark’—that magical moment when a young person discovers a nugget of knowledge that excites and engages her or him,” said Bell. “She firmly believed in the Seeding Your Future Initiative as a place where sparks can fly.”
To learn more about designating a gift through the Shepherd University Foundation, please contact Monica Lingenfelter, executive vice president, Shepherd University Foundation, P.O. Box 5000, Shepherdstown, WV, 25443-5000, 304-876-5397, mlingenf@shepherd.edu or Sherri Janelle, executive director of development, 304-876-5043, sjanelle@shepherd.edu, or visit https://shepherduniversityfoundation.org.
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