Kevin '88 and Bill '00 Dungey

"Don't ever be so big you can’t help somebody. Extend your hand and bring someone along,” Grand Valley alumnus Bill Dungey said. Together with his brother Kevin, Dungey is following his own advice.

In 2004, the brothers established the Henry and Juanita Dungey School of Public and Nonprofit Administration Excellence Award. The award, a $1,000 annual scholarship, is given to outstanding Grand Valley students majoring in public and nonprofit administration.

The brothers had a number of reasons for creating the scholarship, including their belief in providing students with the tools to achieve the impossible and the goal to send messages of hope. Most importantly however, the brothers wanted to honor their parents – who made many sacrifices to support their success.

For that reason, the Dungey’s encourage the scholarship recipients to give back after graduation stating that “the real challenge for all of us is what contribution can you make in the time that you have.”

Recipient Valerie James is grateful for the scholarship and plans on paying it forward following her graduation.

“It was getting harder and harder every year,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through just to achieve their dreams, so I will definitely give back to Grand Valley students.”

Bill Dungey pictured.