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Campus Kickoff Events Draw Interest and Enthusiasm for Campaign

Students and staff pose with frames in the shape of Nebraska at campaign kickoff events.

By Ed Rider

The impact of philanthropy throughout the University of Nebraska is unmistakable. From state-of-the-art facilities to high-tech equipment, new educational programs, student scholarships and faculty support, private donors have left an impression on the university for generations to come.

Approximately 1,500 students, faculty and staff from across the University of Nebraska System gathered over several weeks to celebrate the launch of Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future. The campaign is a historic initiative to engage 150,000 benefactors to raise $3 billion to support the University of Nebraska and build the future Nebraska needs right now.

Campus campaign kickoff events began Dec. 7 at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, Nebraska, with approximately 200 people in attendance. The University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha held rallies the next day that drew about 500 at each campus. Approximately 300 attendees took part in the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s event Jan. 24. Scheduled events at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln City Campus and East Campus were canceled due to a winter storm Feb. 16. The events will likely be rescheduled.

Lifelong Learning Inspires Educator to Give Back

Young Janet sitting on a camel in the desert.

Janet Wendland grew up in Arapahoe, Nebraska, and attended the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she majored in German and English. After teaching high school, Janet spent a summer in Germany on a Fulbright scholarship and then continued her education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, receiving a master’s degree in education. She was then recruited by a school supplies company and began a career in international sales in the education market. Janet, a Burnett Society member, established a planned gift to provide study abroad opportunities for UNK students.

What was the first job you ever had?

In high school during the summers, I helped teach swimming lessons at our local pool and also served up ice cream at the Dairy Queen. Both jobs helped teach me to have good humor and patience when serving others, and those skills have helped in all my dealings with others.

After graduation from UNK, my first job was teaching German and English in a high school, and I know I learned more about teaching than I taught in those years. I was very thankful to have the principal and fellow teachers to mentor me and help me hone my skills.

What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

I have received great advice from my parents, especially about being true to your own authentic self and values and being respectful of others, whether or not you agree with them.

I also have a daily calendar that gives a proverb each day from Africa, and I appreciate those snippets that are unique but practical advice. Today’s proverb from Kenya is: “One does not regret having helped another.” Yesterday’s was: “Do not separate your mind from your tongue.”

Who has influenced your life for good?

My family, friends, teachers, ministers to name a few, and often strangers who show me a behavior that I should emulate. I like the philosophy of Leo Buscaglia, who said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Why do you plan to leave a gift to the foundation?

Having been raised in the small town of Arapahoe, Nebraska, by loving parents and a community that valued education, it is easy to understand why I decided to make a promise of funds to help others coming after me. I am very grateful for the wealth of opportunities my education has afforded me and know this gift will help others achieve their dreams. My travels around the world also taught me how interconnected and interdependent we all are and helped me understand and appreciate my place in the world. My gratitude and experiences help explain why I have committed to helping others. Plus, the proverb says: “One does not regret having helped another!” This gift from me is also to me.

The Sum of Our Parts

Warren and his wife take a selfie with bike helmets on.

Warren Luckner, UNL Emeritus Professor of Practice, and his wife, Mary

Giving back is just part of the equation for former UNL professor

Story by Robyn Murray | Video by Lance Schwartz

Charity is embedded in Warren Luckner’s DNA.

“I grew up with the idea of sharing, mentored by my parents,” said Warren, who is a Burnett Society member. “It started with Sunday school offerings, and then I kept doing it.”

Warren grew up in Chicago. An avid Cubs fan, he was also a faithful churchgoer. After graduating from high school, he went to Decorah, Iowa, to study at Luther College, thinking about a possible career in the ministry. Instead, he followed his passion for mathematics. He studied abstract algebra, analysis and topology — otherwise known as theoretical or pure math. But he wasn’t quite sure how to use it to directly help people.

“At that time in my life, the late 1960s, pure math just seemed like mental gymnastics that wasn’t doing anything particularly helpful for society,” he said. “So I went to the dark side of what some would refer to as impure math, and actually tried to apply math as an actuary.”

After receiving his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Maryland, Warren joined the National Teacher Corps program to teach elementary school in Louisville, Kentucky, and earn a master’s degree in education. That experience inspired him to begin giving back. He and his wife, Mary, decided to give 10% of their modest income to fund school supplies at the school at which Warren taught.

After completing the Teacher Corps, Warren began his actuarial career at Aid Association for Lutherans in Appleton, Wisconsin. As an actuary, Warren could directly help people achieve financial security.

After working for five years as a practicing actuary and achieving fellowship in the Society of Actuaries, Warren applied for a position in the Actuarial Science Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He got the job and later became the program director in 1979. Warren left in 1986 to serve in the Chicago headquarters of the Society of Actuaries but returned to Nebraska to serve as director again in 2003. He stayed until his retirement in 2014.

Shortly thereafter, Warren began thinking again about what he could do to give back. He thought about the three places that had most impacted his life — Luther College; UNL’s Actuarial Science Program; and the foundation of the church he belongs to — and established planned gifts to support all three.

With the help of the planned giving department at the University of Nebraska Foundation, Warren directed his legacy gifts to two endowed funds supporting UNL’s Actuarial Science Program. One is a scholarship named for Bob Larson, the first director of the program and a mentor to Warren. The other supports the program chair, a position Warren formerly held, in memory of David Hayes. David was a student whom Warren describes as one of his best and who died shortly before his 40th birthday. David’s parents established the endowed fund in his honor.

“I enjoyed and really appreciated my time at Nebraska,” Warren said. “I especially cherish that part of my actuarial career.”

Warren made the gift from a life insurance policy that his mother purchased for him when he was 17 years old as well as from an IRA account. He said he believes it’s important to share, no matter how much we are able to give.

“These [gifts] are substantive, but not really millions of dollars,” he said. “However much you can give matters. Life is a series of relationships, family, friends, people you work with and experiences that touch you and the connections you make. I think most people can identify relationships and experiences that importantly impacted their lives, and for which they have much gratitude. That gratitude can lead to their good causes to support with a legacy gift.”

Warren sums up the philosophy simply: “Pay it forward. Our lives have been enriched. We can help enrich the lives of others, now and after we are gone.”

Finding a New Home in Kearney

After Traveling the Country, Early Childhood Specialist Comes to UNK for Her Dream Job

By Robyn Murray

Marisa Macy bubbles with excitement when she talks about living in Kearney.

“We love it here so much,” Macy said. “We have a 10-year-old daughter; she’s in fifth grade here in town, and Kearney is so perfect for us. UNK is so perfect for us. We just love it here.”

Macy, who grew up in Seattle, Washington, and has lived all over the country, accepted her job at the University of Nebraska at Kearney last fall — sight unseen. She interviewed during a surge in the COVID-19 pandemic, so the process was conducted virtually. She knew nearly nothing about Nebraska, but the job was so perfect, she jumped at the opportunity.

“When I learned about this position, I was so excited,” she said. “Everything about it on paper looked amazing to me, and I just was so excited. I told my husband I really want to apply for this job. It’s not just a job. It’s my dream job.”

The position is twofold: Macy is the Cille and Ron Williams Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education at UNK as well as the Community Chair in Early Childhood Education at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute. The chair at UNK was established through a gift from University of Nebraska alumnus Ron Williams of Denver and his wife, Cille, in 2014.

The outreach embedded in the role is what excited Macy.

“This position is mainly focused on being a servant leader, where you’re providing leadership in the community and serving the needs of the people in our community,” she said.

Macy comes to the role from a 25-year career that began in special education. After four years teaching in a middle school in Buckley, Washington, Macy began working with families of special needs kids. Later she went into academia — researching and teaching on the subject as she traveled to follow her husband’s career, from Oregon to Pennsylvania, Texas to Florida. She earned her doctorate in special education from the University of Oregon and is considered not only a perfect fit for the role at UNK but an exemplary recruit.

Throughout her career, Macy has been motivated by a passion that she’d nurtured for as long as she can remember. And she has a photo to prove it: 3-year-old Marisa with her dolls, all lined up and facing her like students in a classroom. When she wasn’t playing teacher, Macy was watching “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and wishing she could be like the gentle, cardigan-clad man who helped kids learn.

“I’m just so grateful for ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ because that’s how I learned how to speak English,” said Macy, whose mother spoke only Italian at home. “He spoke really slow; I could understand him. He was always so kind.”

Macy spent the first year in her new position traveling across Nebraska, learning about the early childhood education needs in the state’s communities and making connections. She’s already formed several that are likely to pay dividends. One is a collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute to develop strategies to help prevent burnout among early childhood educators. Another is with the Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she’s researching ways to ensure the quality of early childhood programs.

“I’ve never been anywhere that has had [collaboration] like this,” she said.

"It’s a very special place for our family"

Macy’s arrival in the state comes at a pivotal time. Not only is the University of Nebraska System finding innovative solutions to address the urgent statewide teacher shortage, but UNK is celebrating the three-year anniversary of the transformative Lavonne Kopecky Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center, a $7.8 million building that has already become a model as one of the best early childhood education centers in the nation.

The morning after Macy arrived, she realized she and her family are living right next door to it.

“I thought, oh, my gosh, this is so meant to be,” she said. “We get to see that every day.”

And she does. Macy picks up her daughter after school, and they hang out with the toddlers and kids who visit the Plambeck Center, while her husband, Robert Macy, finishes up his day in his new position as director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Rural Development at the College of Business and Technology. Everything feels just right, like she’s finally where she’s meant to be.

“It’s a very special place for our family, for so many reasons, here at UNK,” Macy said.

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November 28, 2022