Golden Key NASPA Annual Conference Scholarship

NASPA, or the Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Association, is the leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession. The NASPA Annual Conference is the premiere gathering place for student affairs administrators in higher education and is a great professional development value.
In an effort to support the first-time conference attendance of the future generation of student affairs professionals, NASPA and Golden Key International Honour Society teamed up to create the Golden Key NASPA Annual Conference Scholarship. The scholarships, up to $825, are used towards conference registration fees, travel, housing and meals.

Thirteen scholarships were awarded, seven to graduate students and six to undergraduate students.

Golden Key Executive Director Brad Rainey and four GK employees had the pleasure of attending the conference and meeting the scholarship winners.  Lenora Oeters, US Chapter Development Manager, attended the conference for the first time.  Oeters said, “being able to connect with other student affairs professionals, learn through workshops and grow in relationships was truly amazing.  The best part of the conference for me was being able to meet the Golden Key scholarship winners and talk with them about their futures in the student affairs world and what an impact this scholarship made on their lives.” She continues, “I have never been more proud to be a student affairs professional…or a Golden Key employee!  I am already counting down to NASPA 2014 in Baltimore!”
1    2
Pictured above are all of the scholarship recipients and the following Golden Key staff: Brad Rainey- Executive Director, Lenora Oeters- US Chapter Development Manager, John Dingfelder- Associate Director for US Region 8, Sareena Helton- Associate Director for US Region 7, and Holly McCaleb- Director of US University Relations.
The graduate scholarship recipients are:

  • Al Forbes, Syracuse University
  • John Gipson Jr., Grand Valley State University
  • Leah Howell, University of Cincinnati
  • Dirk Rodricks, University of Vermont
  • Henry Shin, Loyola University Chicago
  • Isabella Villacampa, Indiana University
  • Jennifer Guerra, Florida International University
Graduate Scholarship Recipients
Graduate Scholarship Recipients
The undergraduate scholarship recipients are:

  • Karyn Dyer, SUNY College at Old Westbury
  • Jessica Shapiro, Boston College
  • Nicole Garcia, University of Miami
  • Annie Le, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Matthew McCabe, University of Miami
  • Brandon Dunkley, Buffalo State College
Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients
Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients
Here’s what a few of the winners told us about their experiences:
“I was a recipient of the Golden Key Scholarship for the undergraduate NUFP Program for the Annual NASPA Conference in Orlando. I just wanted to take the time to thank Golden Key for everything and your support during the conference. I had an absolutely incredible time and was very impressed by the whole experience. It made me very excited to pursue a career in Student Affairs. In the short year of being a part of the NUFP program, I have been able to make so many connections with Student Affairs professionals on my campus, learn about graduate school and the profession from my mentor, attend the national conference on scholarship from Golden Key, and secure an internship at UC Berkeley for the summer. I am so grateful! I have such a great team of support and I really appreciate Golden Key International Honour Society’s role in all of my success. I definitely hope to continue the program and attend the conference again next year in Baltimore. I just want to let you know, that without the scholarship I was awarded, I would not have been able to attend the conference. Thank you so much.”
— Nicole Garcia, sophomore at the University of Miami
“I am one of the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows that received the Golden Key Scholarship to attend the conference last week.  I just wanted to write and thank you for helping me to attend the conference. It was a unique experience and I honestly learned a lot. I am more excited than ever to enter this profession of student affairs and I owe a lot of my excitement to the conference experience. I met so many kind and interesting people that I found super influential as well. The conference really wouldn’t have happened for me if it weren’t for the Golden Key Scholarship, so I just want to recognize you and thank you deeply for that.”
— Matt McCabe, University of Miami Class of 2014
Golden Key is thrilled to award these scholarships to these students who have very bright futures in a student affairs profession.



1 thought on “Golden Key NASPA Annual Conference Scholarship”