Mat-Su College receives large donation from longtime supporter

Phelps grew up in the Palmer area and carried a strong adoration for the Mat-Su Valley community with her to Oregon. Despite never attending the college and living out of state, she continues to support the college several years after establishing a scholarship fund for Valley residents in honor of her parents.

“She wanted it to be for students who attend this college because she just has a real attachment to this community even after being gone for several decades,” Colberg said.

Mat-Su College faculty and staff are currently gearing up for the 2021 fall semester. Colberg said they hope to reopen the Glenn Massay Theater as soon as they get the approval. He’s also eager to reopen their library to the general public after being restricted due to the pandemic.

Colberg said Phelps’ recent donation was the single largest contribution from a single donor in many years. He said this donation stirs up a lot of hope and encouragement in the midst of battling uphill against the constant constraints in and around COVID-19.

“It’s been a rough year for us otherwise with covid restrictions and general reductions and things over the years, so it was to see that we still have such a fond supporter,” Colberg said.

While varying year to year, the Mat-Su College awards between one to five students per year with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $3,000, according to Colberg. He said the $60,000 donation will go scholarship’s principal fund, which will be used to grow the amount awarded over time.

“For this Valley and this College, that’s a big donation. That makes this scholarship much more useful for more people each year and it can spin off for years to come,” Colberg said. “It’s just nice to have more options. Mrs. Phelps and her husband worked all their lives to accumulate what they have and rather than give it to someone else, they gave to us to help students get through college cheaper and that’s great.”

According to Colberg, the Frank and Jennie Clark Memorial Scholarship is one of about 11 scholarships specifically connected to the Mat-Su College. He said the total amount of these scholarship options has grown over the years with about four times the amount of funds dedicated to the programs compared to a decade ago.

Colberg said there’s a variety of local and national scholarships available to aspiring college students, whether it’s at their school or another University of Alaska campus. He said having more scholarships specific to their college like the Frank and Jennie Clark Memorial Scholarship helps create more opportunities for locals pursuing higher education.

For more information about the Frank and Jennie Clark Memorial Scholarship, visit https://alaska.academicworks.com/opportunities/13098.

To learn more about Mat-Su College, visit matsu.alaska.edu.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com