Glen Walker and Caile Spear have provided financial support to Boise State students for nearly 25 years. As members of the Loyal Broncos giving society — donors who give philanthropic gifts for five or more consecutive years — the Boise couple said they understand first-hand the financial challenges students have while attending college.
“I benefited from the scholarships other people contributed to when I was an undergraduate, so I’m paying it forward,” said Spear, a professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Health. “My students regularly tell me how important my support of them as an advisor and teacher is to their success. Students can’t remain in school without financial support.”
Walker, a Boise State alumnus (BBA, finance, ’98; BBA, accountancy, ’14), believes it’s important to give back to his alma mater and says his career and life benefited from his education.
“Boise State provided the educational foundation for my career,” he said, adding that “I wanted to give back to the students of Boise State because my peers helped me during school.”
In addition to financial support, the couple volunteered to support the Boise State Alumni Association and Foundation. Glen currently serves as a member of the Boise State Foundation Board of Directors.
“Serving on the Boise State Foundation has shined a bright light on how important it is to fund more Boise State scholarships,” Glen said. “A strong foundation helps bring in the needed dollars to provide student scholarships. More and more of our students need scholarships and can’t afford to pay all of their educational costs out of their own pockets.”
For more than 20 years, the couple has supported several student programs, including the establishment of the Glen Walker Returning Scholarship in Accountancy and donations to the Health Promotion Scholarship.
The couple noted that there is solid research that people with a bachelor’s degree earn significantly more over their lifetime compared to high school graduates. College graduates are better able to give back to their community, and their families are more successful.