Hagerty and Simão pledge $1 million gift to NMC
TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College today announced it has received a $1 million commitment from community members Kim Hagerty and Antonio Simão to support the college’s greatest needs and scholarships through two funds. The Kim Hagerty and Antonio Simão gift will support the Fund for NMC, the college’s unrestricted fund, which enables the college to address the greatest needs of its programs and students, such as emergency student support, future program innovations, and more.
“As we’ve seen during the pandemic, the Fund for NMC gives the college the flexibility to pivot to meet the changing needs of our learners at this time and in the future,” said NMC President Nick Nissley.
Additionally, Kim Hagerty and Antonio Simão have committed part of this gift to the Hagerty-Simão Family Scholarship Fund, which will annually provide scholarships to approximately 20 students, with preference to those enrolled in NMC’s Aviation program or the Commitment Scholarship program. As an endowed scholarship fund, these annual scholarships will be available to students in perpetuity.
“This gift from Kim and Antonio will help so many students be successful in reaching their academic goals through NMC,” Nissley said.
Kim Hagerty said that they were inspired by the realization of how important the college is in this community. “Antonio and I have such great confidence in NMC and what it is doing to support students. We want to keep that going,” Hagerty said. “We are so happy to be able to make this commitment.”
This pledge is included as part of the Be What’s Possible campaign, a fundraising initiative for scholarships, programs, facilities, and the Fund for NMC (greatest needs) at NMC. To date the Be What’s Possible campaign has raised more than $34 million towards a goal of $35 million.
Kim Hagerty and her family have long-standing connections to the college. Kim Hagerty served on NMC’s Foundation board for 10 years and continues to serve as an honorary member. Antonio Simão first attended NMC Aviation in 2004, receiving private, seaplane, and instrument ratings.
NMC Aviation trains professional pilots for successful careers in the cockpit. Offering both two- and four-year degree options, over its five decades the program has trained thousands of pilots who have flown everywhere from the military to legacy airlines to the Alaskan bush. Today, NMC Aviation serves more than 150 students each year in both domestic and international exchange programs, and is also a recognized leader in the field of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) training. Find out more at nmc.edu/aviation.
NMC’s Commitment Scholarship program promises a college education to selected northern Michigan ninth graders who are first-generation students, show academic promise and potential, and have financial need. Commitment provides mentoring and college preparatory activities during high school, and a tuition scholarship to NMC for up to 60 credits and/or three years, and has supported more than 1,500 students from across the region since 1993.
Release date: FEBRUARY 16, 2021
For more information:
Rebecca Teahen
Associate Vice President for Resource Development
Executive Director, NMC Foundation
rteahen@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1855