School of Ed Duo Creates Scholarship

Rob Longwell-Grice, a senior advisor in the School of Education, conducts research related to first-generation college students and what it takes for them to succeed in getting a degree. He and seven siblings were all first-generation college students, so this topic hits close to home for him.

He and his wife, Hope Longwell-Grice, an associate professor and associate dean at the school, have collaborated on papers about first-generation college students, but the two decided they wanted to do more. “Through Rob’s experiences and his studies, we came to realize the impact scholarships can have on access for first-generation students,” Hope explains.

The Longwell-Grices decided to create the Robert and Hope Longwell-Grice Scholarship in order to help first-generation students in UWM’s Higher Education Administration graduate program. By spring of 2017, the scholarship had been awarded to five students. “Our desire to establish a fund came from a hope of ‘paying it forward’ to multiple generation of first-gens,” say Rob and Hope. “This scholarship allows us to help fund first-gen students who, through their careers, will help others like them.”

As employees of UWM, the couple has long been contributing to UWM Gives to UWM, the university’s annual faculty-staff campaign. “As part of my job, I help coordinate the awarding of the School of Education scholarships,” says Rob, “and I saw people setting up permanent scholarships. I thought, ‘We should do that, and we could do that. UWM and the School of Education have been good to us, and we want to share our good fortune with others.”

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