Alumnus Oren Glatt creates memorial scholarship fund
Released: October 21, 2009
TOPEKA - Oren Glatt, of rural Abilene, Kan., remembers how tough it was to put himself through college. He hopes his recent gift of $150,000 to create two scholarships at Washburn University will help make getting a degree a little easier for future students.
Glatt recently created the Karl Arthur Glatt Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor of his late father and the Keith Glatt Scholarship – Representing the Children of Karl and Zelpha Glatt in honor of his late brother.
“I wanted to honor my father and my brother,” he said. “My father died when we were little kids, and I was thinking of my father and how it must have been difficult back in the middle of the Depression to raise six kids and then to get cancer. I just can’t imagine the mental pain of knowing you would leave a wife to raise six young kids.”
Glatt, who was nine years old when his father died, had four brothers and one sister. Even though he was young, he and his siblings knew they had to pitch in and help their mother around the farm. He said even though his mother couldn’t pay for them to go to college, she inspired each of them to continue their education.
This is the second major gift Glatt has made to Washburn University. In May of 2008 he donated $100,000 to create the Zelpha Miller Glatt Family Scholarship and the Zelpha Miller Glatt Family Washburn Women’s Alliance Scholarship. All four scholarships will be awarded based on need and with a preference given to students from Dickinson County, Kan. The Zelpha Miller Glatt Family Washburn Women’s Alliance Scholarship is awarded to non-traditional female students.
When he turned 18, Oren joined the U.S. Army and served for 14 months in Korea. He enrolled at Washburn with the help of the G.I. Bill and also worked several part-time jobs to help pay for college.
“It is nice to know the scholarships help relieve the strain of getting through school,” he said. “None of us kids received scholarships, so we know how tough it is to get through school.”
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