Drs. Eric Demers and Tim Goater have been donating to student scholarships for years
Watching his students’ faces light up when they realize they’ve won a scholarship to help pay for school motivates Biology Professor Dr. Eric Demers to keep giving every year.
“It’s also why we teach – you see the effect you have, how it helps them overcome financial hardship,” he says. “Even though tuition increases have been capped, everything else has increased. Any little bit helps.”
More than a decade ago, Eric and others in the Biology department, including Emeritus Professor Dr. Tim Goater, started raising money for scholarships. Each scholarship recognizes someone near and dear to the Biology department, or who was passionate about Biology education.
Eric and Tim donated every year and as each scholarship got going, they transferred their efforts to the next one. Right now the pair are donating to the latest effort – a scholarship in Tim’s own name.
“Half my life has been here, so I wanted to mark my own legacy – of me being here and loving this place for the past 36 years,” says Tim.
Tim says he watches students struggle to work two jobs to pay for school and maintain their grades at the same time. The Dr. Tim Goater Zoology Scholarship is for a third or fourth-year Biology student who shares his enthusiasm for the natural world. “Holy Biodiversity Batman!” was a common phrase Tim’s students heard him exclaim when out on one of his annual field trips to Piper’s Lagoon or Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
Eric says payroll deduction has made his ability to give fast and convenient. And it meant he could increase his impact because having a small amount come off every paycheque means his wallet doesn’t take a bigger hit one time a year.
Inspired by Tim and Eric? Learn more about different options on the VIU Foundation’s Ways to Give page. Right now, you can double your support thanks to the university’s Giving Tuesday campaign, which runs from November 1 to December 1. During the campaign, the Foundation matches gifts to scholarships, awards, bursaries and the Access Fund up to $1,000 and endowment gifts are matched at 50 cents on the dollar.
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