By Bryan Grossman
Posted on
May 25, 2016
A $3.4 million bequest from a retired registered nurse will create a new undergraduate scholarship at UCCS.
Helen Clement, 92, was a registered nurse and has established the Clement Family Endowed Scholarship Program, providing a full-ride annual scholarship to two qualifying undergraduate students at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences at UCCS.
The initial gift is $60,000 and part of the money will start the endowment, with the remainder used to support an existing Clement Family Foundation scholar at UCCS, said a press release from the university. The Clement estate’s eventual liquidation, upon Clement’s death, will create several more scholarships in perpetuity for students interested in medical careers such as nursing, nutrition, health promotion, health science, sports medicine and exercise science.
Helen Clement, 92, worked as a registered nurse in all kinds of settings: operating rooms, nursing homes, college campuses, even a high-security federal facility.
Thanks to a recent$3.4 million bequest commitment, she is continuing her role as an advocate of medical education through the creation of an undergraduate scholarship program at the UCCS.
In recent years, UCCS has gained momentum in its health care education with the opening of the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences on the UCCS campus and the renaming of its nursing college in recognition of an $8 million grant by the Denver-based Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation. The Lane Center is also home to the recently opened Colorado Springs Branch of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. UCCS’ expanding reputation in health care has increasingly been recognized by donors, enabling the campus to see record philanthropy supporting health care programming, the university said.
UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said Clement’s bequest will help address a need for more scholarship support. Last year UCCS faced $7 million dollars in unmet scholarship need for more than 5,000 students. UCCS will give preference to students on the eastern plains of Colorado, especially those from Limon High School, in providing money from the Clement scholarship.
Clement grew up in Depression-era Texas as the youngest of six children raised by a single mother. When she was old enough, Clement enrolled in a three-year federal training program for nurses, a move she called “one of the best decisions I ever made.” She graduated in 1948.
Clement worked as a nurse while her late husband, James, operated general stores in Texas, New Mexico and Nebraska. The couple eventually settled in Limon where they were longtime residents. The couple created the Clement Family Foundation in 2010, awarding scholarships to Limon High School seniors interested in medical degrees. Now a resident of Colorado Springs, Clement said she was excited that this philanthropic partnership with UCCS will help more college students interested in entering the health care field she so loves.
“Even now, the opportunities are so much greater than when I graduated because there are so many new fields in medicine,” Clement said. “I hope this scholarship program helps as many students in whatever field of medicine they choose, so they can fulfill their dreams … and those dreams are built on the foundation of an education.”
To see a video of Clement talking about her donation, visit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGWcG6HjllY&feature=youtu.be