Susan Graaskamp Martin ’60 Creates Scholarship for Non-Traditional Students Through Gift in Will

“My grandfather may have been one of Carroll’s earliest ‘non-traditional’ students! After retiring from the business world and sending his four sons and one daughter to Carroll, he enrolled at Carroll in the early 1940s—commuting to Waukesha from his Milwaukee home for as long as his health allowed. While at Carroll, he thoroughly enjoyed the Bible, history, and philosophy classes of his choosing (he even joined a fraternity). Perhaps my grandfather truly was the one responsible for planting the seeds of the Susan Graaskamp Martin Scholarship for non-traditional students.

“When I retired and moved back to Wisconsin, I became very active in the community. While serving on the scholarship committees of two local organizations, I realized that although there were dozens of college scholarships available, they were all reserved for high school seniors. Prospective students who were returning to college or who had postponed their pursuit of a higher education were not eligible for those scholarships.

“My nearly 40-year career in human resources reinforced in me the value of a college education, resulting in my determination to ‘change the rules.’ Easier said than done, I learned—but creating a scholarship reserved for non-traditional students at Carroll was a logical and simple way to address the situation. So I created the Susan Graaskamp Martin Scholarship for Non-Traditional Students through a gift in my will.”

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