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By Al Bahe, development director for the SDSU College of Nursing

We believe. 

During the six-plus years I’ve been in this role, meeting and getting to know so many of you, one of my favorite questions to ask is, “Why do you choose to support ��«Ӱҵ and the College of Nursing?” 

As one would expect, the responses vary. Here are some of the most common: 

• It’s a way for me to give back; I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for SDSU. 
• When I attended, I received scholarships/financial aid; now, I’m in a position to help. 
• I was the first in my family to attend college, and we had very little. Without scholarships, I would not have been able to attend or become a professional nurse. 

Last fall, just before the annual nursing scholarship reception in Brookings, I received an email from a scholarship donor that gave a new answer to that question. This donor was excited to attend the event and was looking forward to meeting this year’s scholarship recipient. 

One sentence in that message struck me, because it peeled back more layers of the “why” question. I believe it truly captures the essence of why you and so many others have chosen to support the SDSU College of Nursing. 

“It’s so good to see how the SDSU College of Nursing donors come together to support the future of health care and how we believe in our future Jackrabbits nurses.” 

We believe in our future Jackrabbits nurses. 

By choosing to make your gifts to the College of Nursing, you are professing your faith in the next generation of professional nurses who are being trained and prepared by SDSU. Your gifts say “thank you” for the education that launched so many successful careers; and those gifts highlight the importance of the nursing profession in our modern world of health care.

There’s more to this story. Keith Holt, B.S.N. 2006, sent that email. Keith, his wife, Lisa (McNeil), B.S.N. 2007, along with Luke Jobman (B.S.N. 2006) and Heather (Lingle) Aesoph (B.S.N. 2006) had initially created a nursing scholarship just two years after graduation. Even with young families, they continue to support a scholarship that is now in its 17th year. 

We believe in our future Jackrabbits nurses. 

Then, in March 2023, Keith’s father, Richard K. Holt (note the initials, RKH) passed away after a lengthy illness. Richard, along with his wife, Sheri, and their family are so grateful for the nurses who provided care and compassion in the rural clinics, hospital and eventually hospice care at home to his final day. 

From that experience, and to encourage today’s students to consider a nursing career in a rural setting, the Holt family created a new scholarship — the Rural Kinship in Health (RKH) scholarship. 

In that same email, Holt wrote that the fall scholarship reception was extra special. “… As we turn our grief into action, hopefully inspiring students to continue the path of rural nursing. And we hope we get to tell a little bit about the impacts the kinship of rural nursing had on people like Dad, the one and only.” 

Your gifts are funding scholarships, helping purchase equipment, providing faculty support or enhancing clinical programs within the College of Nursing. Those gifts are the epitome of faith and belief. You are sending a message to our pre-nursing and B.S.N. students that they are not alone on this path. Certainly, they have a strong network of support from their family/friends. In addition, they’re receiving support and encouragement from total strangers who believe in our future Jackrabbits nurses. 

If you believe in our future Jackrabbits nurses, like the Holt family does, let’s get together and talk about how you can make a difference, make an impact, on the next generation of professional nurses from ��«Ӱҵ.