PELLA — The Geisler Penquite Foundation awarded Central College with a two-part gift. The foundation has committed to paying $100,000 per year, alternating between the Geisler Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Penquite Endowed Scholarship Fund, contributing a total of $5 million for scholarships.
The scholarships will be awarded to juniors and seniors who have been accepted into the teacher preparation program. When completely funded, the gift will support 48-50 renewable scholarships of $5,000 for 12 new students in the elementary and secondary education programs who exemplify the principles and values of Central College.
The second part of the gift is an endowment of the Geisler Penquite Educational Excellence Fund. The endowment will be used to enhance educational opportunities in teacher preparation and performance in a program housed by the education department. Participants will engage in training and dialogue about traditional and contemporary education issues.
The Geisler Penquite Charitable Corporation makes annual contributions to the library endowment and the Harold and Mavis Geisler Scholarship Fund and the Loren and Cecil Penquite Scholarship Fund. The Geisler and Penquite families have funded scholarships, buildings and statues totaling more than $1.6 million.
Loren and Cecil Geisler Penquite didn’t attend Central College, and much like Harold Geisler, grew up in Jasper County during the Great Depression. Despite hard times, the two families prospered through hard work and good management. Both families were committed to learning, books, young people and higher education and seized the chance to pass that on to future generations.
In 1977, the Penquites and Geislers endowed the college library collection. In honor of her husband, Mavis Geisler gifted a statue of a young man reading a book titled “The Quest” in 2000. In 2002, Mavis helped develop the Café@Geisler in memory of her parents, Floyd and Mildred Hobbs. And in 2004, a second bronze statue of a young woman carry books and looking toward the young man, called “The Journey,” was erected.
