Gregg R. Gropel, trustee for the Dollars for Scholars program in Luverne, Minn., received the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Humanitarian Award from Minnesota State University, Mankato last week.
Gropel, of Luverne, is one of 12 alumni who are 2010 award winners. He was honored at an April 23 dinner and ceremony hosted by the Minnesota State Mankato Alumni Association.
The Humanitarian Award goes to Minnesota State Mankato graduates whose lives exemplify service to humankind, and who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to humanitarian causes.
After earning an undergraduate degree at Winona State University, Gropel moved to Luverne to teach. He also coordinated the community's summer recreation program, and was asked to head Luverne’s new Community Education program.
He took community education classes at Minnesota State Mankato and, under the tutelage of Robert Utermohlen, developed an economic development newsletter, applying for and receiving a grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. The newsletter encouraged Luverne graduates to consider the city as a location when starting or expanding a business, and it became a community touchstone.
In 1983 Gropel was instrumental in implementing Luverne’s Dollars for Scholars program. That year the program gave two $500 scholarships. Today its endowment is second in the nation among Dollars for Scholars organizations, and today every Luverne graduate receives a scholarship.
Those who want more information about the awards may go to http://www.mnsu.edu/alumni/daa/2010awards.html.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive, doctoral university with 14,950 students, is part of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, which comprises 32 institutions across the state.
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