Scholarship Honor Brunch WWW.MARSHALL.EDU/FOUNDATION Marshall University donors and current recipients of privately funded scholarships were honored on April 14 at the annual Scholarship Honor Brunch in the Memorial Student Center’s Don Morris Room on the Huntington campus. Mary Bunten, 21, a biotechnology major from Huntington, addressed the audience and discussed what she refers to as “planned happenstance.” “Planned happenstance is a term coming to be known as both an attitude that you gain and actions that you take. It is the ideology that you can create opportunities by taking action on your curiosity without letting a certain ‘path’ pin you down. Throughout my journey at Marshall, I lived the planned happenstance way of life and I was greeted with success and adventure beyond my wildest expectations,” Bunten said.” Recipient of the Nancy Pelphrey Scholarship for Marching Band, Flag Corp and Dance Team, Bunten said her time at Marshall has prepared her to pursue her Ph.D. in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics this Fall. As a scholarship recipient during his undergraduate years, Marshall President Dr. Jerry Gilbert spoke about the importance of opening doors through financial support at the university level. “At Marshall, we understand the key to unlocking the potential in each of us is achieved through higher education,” Gilbert said. “Oftentimes, higher education isn’t possible without financial support. This is why it is so important we host events like the annual scholarship brunch to recognize our donors for their commitment to helping students achieve their goals. Without their support, many of our students would not be here today. We are eternally grateful for these members of our Marshall family who have chosen to give back in this way.” Dr. Ron Area, CEO of the Marshall University Foundation, said the foundation will continue to sponsor events like these to recognize donors and recipients. “For many of our scholarship students, college is a blind leap of faith,” Area said. “They do not necessarily begin college with a scholarship. You are also taking a blind leap of faith, assuming that the recipient of the scholarship attends class, studies hard and gets good grades. Scholarships do more than open financial doors; they provide support in terms of confidence that someone believes in them. You help them realize that this leap of faith will be remembered as a stepping stone on their path to higher achievement.” Over 400 individuals were in attendance including donors, scholarship recipients and university community members. Students who attended the 2018 Scholarship Honor Brunch Student Mary Bunten spoke to those in attendance about Planned Happenstance: a Marshall Story. Throughout my journey at Marshall, I lived the planned happenstance way of life and I was greeted with success and adventure beyond my wildest expectations.