The Kids on the Wall
The brainchild of Dr. David Rowland, the Walker College Foundation continues to impact local students while preserving the legacy of an institution.
Words by Justin Hunter | Image by Ryan McGill
On the walls of the Walker College Foundation conference room hang handwritten letters scribed in colorful pen, Sharpie, and pencil. The letters, suspended beneath the words “Because You Gave”, are from current and former students thanking the individuals and corporations whose donation has helped them begin their college education. In each letter, students complete the sentence with the career field they are pursuing at Bevill State Community College (BSCC) or where they are enrolled.
“I started the ‘Because You Gave’ student testimonials a couple of years ago as a part of our WCF orientation,” says Walker College Foundation President Holly Trawick. “And I’m going to fill this office with them, and those testimonials are going to be everywhere. Because this is what the foundation is about it. It’s about the kids on the wall.”
WCF is predominately known in Walker County and surrounding counties for providing local high school students and community members with scholarship opportunities and on-campus support. Since being established as a 501(c)(3) community-funded scholarship foundation in 1995, the Foundation has awarded nearly $3 million to help students pay for their undergraduate education.
The Foundation is more than a scholarship fund; it is one-part community action agency, one-part museum, and one-part scholars society, all combined to preserve the legacy of those individuals who loved and invested in Walker College.
The origins of the scholarship fund date back to when Dr. David Rowland was named president of the college in 1956. Because Rowland wanted the residents of Walker County to understand the positive impact of college had on the community, he devised a way to illustrate its economic footprint. He once paid his employees in only silver dollars, and another time only in $2 bills. Every time a $2 bill ended up in a cash register or a silver dollar in a child’s pocket, it was because of Walker College.
“Dr. Rowland was a great fundraiser. He did all the fundraising himself,” says Trawick. “He knew the right people to talk to and had some great supporters in town. He did a lot of hard work to raise funds to help support the college and scholarships. He gave the community the ability to see the value in college education and why they needed help people go to college. Many of his friends and supporters established the endowed scholarships that are still supporting students to this day,”
In 1993, when the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) took over the operation of Walker College, the development/scholarship fund became its own entity. The reason was simple: the board of directors wanted to keep the scholarship money local. Walker College as an institution was extremely important to the community and the board didn’t want that rich history to be lost in transition. To preserve the college’s heritage, the Foundation also functions as a mini museum that tells the living history of the private college. The rooms are filled with yearbooks, news articles, sports memorabilia, paintings, and sculptures that Trawick has collected over the years.
“What we want to be is a museum,” she says. “WCF is a tribute to the people who built the college and those who supported it. There are items in here that represent the things they love, so it’s to keep the memories of those families alive. What a better way to pay tribute to those families for all they invested in this community.” 78