UH-Hilo receives $3 million scholarship endowment from anonymous donor

The University of Hawaii at Hilo announced today that it has received its largest-ever scholarship endowment from an anonymous donor.

The $3 million gift will be used to fund three new scholarships for UH-Hilo students, including the Kruschel LGBTQ+ Endowed Scholarship, the university’s first endowed scholarship supporting students who identify as LGBTQ.

The other two scholarships include the Kruschel First-Generation Endowed Scholarship, which supports students who are the first in their families to attend college, and the Kruschel Endowed Scholarship, which is open to all full-time undergraduate or graduate students who graduated from a Big Island high school.

The three scholarships cover costs associated with attending school without restrictions on the recipients’ field of study, so long as the recipients are enrolled at UH-Hilo full-time.

“We are grateful for this groundbreaking gift, the largest ever for UH-Hilo, that will benefit so many under-represented and often marginalized students with scholarship funds that help them complete their UH journey,” said UH President David Lassner in a statement. “This donor is especially remarkable for their generosity and passion—and compassion—for bringing equity to deserving students who are often overlooked and most in need to succeed in attaining a college education.”