Lee Honors College

Lee Honors College celebrates the induction of the 2023 Medallion Scholars

Posted by Bethany Gauthier on

November 15, 2023

The Western Michigan University Medallion Scholarships were created in 1984 under the leadership of Trustee Emeritus J. Michael Kemp. Originally valued at $32,000, these scholarships were among the largest merit-based awards at any public university in the U.S. The $94,000 value for today’s recipients is the largest Medallion Scholarship in the history of the program. Periodic increases to the scholarship amount reflect WMU’s commitment to keep pace with college tuition costs. Medallion Scholarships have been awarded to more than 700 outstanding students, totaling nearly $10 million.

On Oct. 13, 2023, the 39th cohort of Medallion Scholars were inducted at a ceremony hosted at the Lee Honors College. Medallion Scholar alumnus David Grandy served as the keynote speaker for the event. Grandy is Vice President, Innovation at Kaiser Permanente and graduated from Western Michigan University and the Lee Honors College in 1997. His honors thesis was titled: “Rethinking the Nursing Paradigm: The Ethics of Gatekeeping in American and British Nursing.”

In addition to their status as Lee Honors College students, something all Medallion Scholars share is The Medallion Ethic, which is a spirit of commitment to excellence and leadership that challenges each Medallion Scholar to make a difference. Each cohort collaborates on a group service project and the current projects are listed below.

Senior Medallions and first-year Medallions have teamed up to continue the service project they are championing in order to continue the work done within the previous four years with minimum disruption.

2020 and 2023 Medallion Service Projects

Serving on the WMU Climate Change Working Group made up of faculty, staff and students.
Assisting the WMU Office for Sustainability with fulfilling and growing its campus sustainability commitments.
Working to coordinate waste free athletic events starting with remaining WMU Women's Basketball games by providing on-site recycling and composting.

2022 Medallion Service Projects:

Tutoring at Woods Lake Elementary School in their after school program.
Tutoring at El Concilio Kalamazoo in their after school program.
Tutoring adults in the ESL program at El Concilio.
Organizing the therapy dog program and monthly visits to the LHC Lounge.

2021 Medallion Service Project:

Work with the non-profit organization Clean Water for the World to make clean water accessible to rural communities around the world. Clean Water for the World is based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The organization is comprised of three arms: an all-volunteer-run board, founders Jerry & Judy Bohl, who manufacture and coordinate shipment of supplies and purifiers to communities the world over, and the communities themselves who maintain and benefit from the purified water.

Scholars will come to see the Medallion Ethic as a tradition to be upheld beyond their years at WMU. We have seen Scholars making a difference in others’ lives far into the future as part of the Medallion Ethic. We ask Scholars to embrace this Ethic as their commitment to their education. WMU has invested in each Medallion Scholar, and the Medallion Ethic expects each Scholar to invest in making a difference. Congratulations to the 2023 class of Medallion Scholars! We can’t wait to see your impact on our community.

For more information, visit the Medallion website.