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Honorary Life Trustee Jack Sturm, who was elected to the Board February 1994, says he was never looking for a Trustee position when the opportunity arose. At the time, he had his hands full building Sturm Foods into a major player in the private-label food business and served on multiple boards of directors. Despite his heavy workload, Jack joined the Board after being asked by two other trustees.
Upon evaluating the state of Ripon College, Jack realized the Board of Trustees had many challenges it needed to overcome. He remembers enrollment was declining while the cost of tuition was increasing. In addition, the lack of funds caused building maintenance to be deferred and money was taken from the endowment fund to balance the budget.
“Due to a total commitment by the entire Board these trends have been reversed and today the College is stronger than ever,” he says. “The entire board, administration and faculty deserve all the credit!”
Jack believes his 12 years of military service and 35 years of experience running a business gives him insight on what issues must be considered. Specifically, he feels his greatest accomplishment was convincing fellow trustees to freeze tuition for two years until enrolment started increasing while simultaneously freezing faculty and administration salaries.
“I guarantee it was not a popular position to take,” he adds. As for current challenges to higher education, Jack believes Ripon College must strive to keep education affordable and tuition increases to a minimum. Meanwhile, he says, the College must continuously increase the endowment fund so scholarships will increase.
Jack’s actions exemplify his belief in affordable education. He supports the scholarship fund on an annual basis and will sometimes reach out to individual students.
“When I personally know a student who would excel in the Ripon environment, I underwrite the difference between the cost and what the student can afford,” Jack says. “I am proud of the fact that I have helped three students in this way.
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