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WMU students receive $5,000 Archer scholarships

Aug. 30, 2004

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University alumnus Dennis Archer is making good on a longtime goal--providing the financial means for Detroit-area students to attend WMU and Wayne State University.

Ten students from each university have been designated Archer Scholars and each is receiving a $5,000 scholarship from the Archer Foundation this year. The scholarships are designed to support students, primarily graduates of Detroit-area schools, who are able to thrive in a university setting.

The 20 scholarships will be formally announced and the scholars introduced during a Sept. 13 fund-raising event at Detroit's Roostertail restaurant, proceeds of which will support the scholarships. Major sponsors of the event are DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Johnson Controls.

The scholarship fund was first envisioned by Archer in 1999. In 2000, Archer and supporters set up the Dennis W. Archer Foundation, and by the following year, more than $1 million had been raised. The foundation's endowment is now more than two-thirds of the way toward the goal of funding 25 scholars each year.

Archer, former mayor of Detroit, is the president of the American Bar Association. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from WMU in 1965 and an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1987. One stipulation of the annual scholarships is that students honored be enrolled at either WMU or WSU. Cassopolis, Mich., native, Archer also has asked that one recipient be a graduate of his alma mater, Cassopolis High School.

Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu

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