MGO Scholarship to UofM?
I generally don't post new topics on the board, but after reading jMatt313GoBlue's story about his love of the University (http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/my-story-how-michigan-hockey-changed-my-household), and considering the high cost of tuition as well as the generousity of the members in the Hail to the Victors 2012 campaign, I was wondering if there would be interest in an annual fund raiser to support one or two Michigan students every year.
Depending on the amount raised, the proceeds could be used for tuition, books, etc. I suppose the beneficiaries should be members of mgoblog, and I am sure that with some guidance from Brian et. al., we could come up with some appropriate criteria to ensure the recipients are deserving students at Michigan or prospective students. Many of you already support the University (financially and otherwise), but I thought that this would be a separate and unique avenue to the members of mgoblog. My education at UofM has had such a major impact on my life and this site has allowed me to share my love of everything Michigan with hundreds of people I do not even know personally. Accordingly, it seems appropriate that through this forum we could assist others with the opportunity to have similar life changing experiences that many of us have had at Michigan.
Many of you are students or recent graduates and I understand that it is important to save your income for school or to support your families. I suspect, however, that there are members who would be eager to participate and have disposable income that could be contributed. Considering $37,717 (and counting) has been raised in just a few days for the Hail to the Victors campaign, I am sure we could generate significant financial assistance for deserving students or prospective students of the University. While Kickstarter is probably not the appropriate forum, there are other methods we might be able to utilize. Your thoughts regarding an MGO Scholarship would be appreciated, including those that may indicate I am on the wrong track with this idea.
March 24th, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
Whatever you decide I think the scholarship money is a great idea! I also think it's a great example of the Michigan community. It also sets MGO apart from any other blog/fansite in college sports. What other fan site can offer intelligent dicussion without the rants, raves, and other bashing that is typical on other blogs? With the added bonus of actually giving back to the students of the school that all of us have such a passion for. Kudos on the great idea and hopefully we can gain the support necessary to make this a reality.
Maybe you could hire an intern and offer scholarship assitance for a position related to the maintenance or administration of MGO? I also think an intern that could cover the smaller sports at Michigan is a great idea. Or maybe even a chronicle of an entire season of Michigan football from recruiting to off-season training to the actual season. It could be like a documentary. How interesting would that be? Behind the scenes of college football's historically most successful program. Then people could get an idea of how much work the student athletes (and at M they are actually STUDENT athletes) actually put in. Either way I think the idea of a scholarship is an excellent one. And a way for MGOers, fans, and people who frequent the site to do something for the University and contribute to the education of a student that might change their life. Either way, I think if we were able to make this a reality then maybe the money should go to someone who is at a financial disadvantage. Then it could really be life altering. But whatever you decide, like I said- GREAT IDEA!
March 24th, 2012 at 10:48 PM ^
nominate Robert Nkemdiche for the first 'endowment'. As someone mentioned above, the paperwork etc involved in making this happen seems daunting, so perhaps keeping it 'unofficial' may be a better course of action. How much money do you think we could raise for a prospective 'student' like Nkemdiche?
March 24th, 2012 at 10:50 PM ^
I love this idea. I didn't read all the responses, so I might have missed it, but I didn't see anything about a "need basis," which I believe should be a requirement. Not that plenty of students don't deserve this period, but I think it always behooves us to help those who need the help the most. I would certainly support this initiative, and encourage those close to me to do so as well.
March 24th, 2012 at 10:51 PM ^
March 24th, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^
You know, if we're thinking of living large with the scholarship idea, we could endow one. I don't know specific numbers, but if we could put together about $500,000 or so, it would endow a scholarship forever, and we could set our own criteria for it (like working for the blog or something), etc. They would probably let us pay it over a few years, but it might be more efficient than putting the money together every year forever.
March 24th, 2012 at 11:56 PM ^
March 24th, 2012 at 11:14 PM ^
March 24th, 2012 at 11:40 PM ^
March 24th, 2012 at 11:49 PM ^
March 24th, 2012 at 11:52 PM ^
March 25th, 2012 at 12:52 AM ^
March 24th, 2012 at 11:55 PM ^
March 25th, 2012 at 12:00 AM ^
IMO, the person who probably has student loans that should benefit the most from donations is Brian Cook himself. The dude is a blogger, so (no offense Brian) I doubt he's rolling in the dough. Perhaps we should donate to the Brian Cook Scholarship fund and not divert any funds from the guy who supports himself by running a blog that we know and love.
March 25th, 2012 at 12:13 AM ^
I'm tryna get an MGOinternship! They are not easy to come by these days
I'd be eager to support either an MGoScholarship or MGoIntern program.
The primary reason I didn't go to Michigan was money, and I'd love for things to be different for other kids down the road.
It would also raise the profile of this website with officials at the university. Where do I sign up?
I also would be willing to support an Mgoscholarship, even though I'm too poor to donate to the magazine.
Hell I would even support this. I think its a fantastic idea to help a kid out. I love this kind of community support. If we could make even just one kid less poor coming out of school I would be tickled.
I like the scholarship idea; it's gratifying to see people be so supportive. I like the internship idea too. But I don't think they should be tied together.
If we go through U-M (which sounds desirable for a bunch of reasons) then the University would be choosing the candidate, whereas I think you'd want an MGoIntern to be selected by MGoblog staff.
Also, there's the issue of privacy. Many people here seem comfortable admitting their real (or potential) status as being in financial need to pay for Michigan, but that's not universal. We'd be putting someone into an internship that is publicly acknowledged as being for need-based students, discussed here on a widely-read board that is open to all comers. Not really fair to the student, who might want their aid status to be less of an open book.
These are two good ideas that in my mind should stay two ideas, not be melded together.