Personal Giving Stories

JOYCE OLSON SOLIDIFIES STRONG BOND WITH UIS WITH SCHOLARSHIP

Though not a graduate of UIS, Joyce H. Olson has strong affiliations with the University—so strong, in fact, that she has created a scholarship for UIS students in her will. The idea first came to Joyce through an article just like this one, and she genuinely hopes that her story will inspire many others to do the same.

During her years in Springfield, Joyce came to know how much having a public university added to her community and the opportunities it provides members of the community to be involved. For her this included serving as a Sangamon Auditorium volunteer for 28 years and taking classes at UIS.

However, her grandson Andrew Perkins led to Joyce’s strongest bond with UIS. Andrew earned an M.B.A. at UIS and then participated in one of the University’s premier internship programs, the Illinois Legislative Staff Internship Program, a unit within the Center for State Policy and Leadership.

“I’m especially pleased that my scholarship will encourage students to become more politically active and to take part in policy development,” said Joyce, a 1952 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For Andrew, the internship led to a position with the Illinois State Senate Republican staff. Today he is the deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs within the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

“It’s gratifying to know that my scholarship could help a future student achieve a similar outcome,” Joyce concludes.

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