{"id":84751,"date":"2022-03-27T22:39:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T05:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/give\/?post_type=stories&p=84751"},"modified":"2025-02-13T10:52:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T18:52:06","slug":"bill-youngs-challenges-eastern-community-to-help-students-succeed","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/give\/news\/bill-youngs-challenges-eastern-community-to-help-students-succeed\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Youngs Challenges Eastern Community to Help Students Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longtime Professor Bill Youngs<\/a> is adding another chapter to Eastern\u2019s history of transforming the lives of students. To kick off Giving Joy Day, on April 4, 2022 Youngs is making a matching gift<\/strong> to challenge the Eastern community to support student scholarships.<\/p>\n

For the next few weeks, gifts made to the Bill Youngs Endowment<\/a> will have twice the impact. Please join with Youngs and our Eagle community by making a matching gift<\/a> to help Eastern students thrive in the classroom and into the future as working professionals!<\/p>\n

This is the second matching challenge Youngs has inspired. This year, the fully endowed fund will provide its inaugural scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year. The scholarship comes online as a record number of students are struggling to balance educational expenses with runaway increases in the cost of housing, groceries, gas and other essentials.<\/p>\n

The Bill Youngs Endowment<\/a> was established in 2020 by Eastern alumni Mike Clawson and Alicia Kinne-Clawso<\/a>n to honor Youngs while assisting students with education-related expenses. The fund helps undergraduate students in history, environmental science and\/or interdisciplinary studies with the cost of tuition and projects like research and publishing that advance skills and qualifications. Youngs is naming the first scholarship The Clawson-Youngs Award in honor of the generous couple who started the endowment.<\/p>\n

Youngs, a PhD professor, has served the EWU History Department \u2013 and the overall Eastern community \u2013 for 50 years. Describing his aspirations as both a teacher and a writer, Dr. Youngs once wrote,<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell the stories of American history as though I were among friends, sitting beside a fire.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although his professional accomplishments include authoring five published books and presenting to international audiences, it is his steadfast commitment to students that earned him a lifelong friendship with Mike and Alicia and an officiating gig at their wedding.<\/p>\n

The couple, now parents to twin toddlers, met while taking a chemistry class at Eastern. While serving in student government, they connected with Youngs, who, at the time, was serving as president of the faculty senate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is committed to engaging students\u2019 learning and really cares about students in the classroom. But it doesn\u2019t stop at the end of class,\u201d said Mike, during a November 2020 interview<\/a> for an InsideEWU story that announced the creation of the fund.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cYou hear about the stuff he does for the community and even outside of history. I don\u2019t know that we encountered anyone at Eastern who is more committed to general student success and helping in any way than Bill is,\u201d Mike said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\n Support the Bill Youngs Endowment <\/h2>\n
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Dr. Youngs will match up to $20,000 total to challenge the EWU community.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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