September 18, 2017

At its annual scholarship donor recognition dinner, the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources announced an estate gift donated by alumnus Chuck Brazeale and his wife Ina Rae to establish the Charles R. and Ina Rae Brazeale Family Scholars program on Sept. 6.

The scholarship fund will cover 25 percent of the annual tuition costs each year for eight Missouri residents. When fully endowed, the fund will provide approximately 30 scholarships annually.

“For students, it shows them that there were other students that were here before them that valued their own education so much they chose to give back,” CAFNR Advancement Director Brent McCauley said. “That’s inspiring in its own right.”

For the past five years, McCauley has been with the college’s Office of Advancement, which processes all donations to CAFNR.

The scholarship, which is open to all in-state CAFNR students, will give preference to students from Monroe County, where the couple’s hometown Paris, Missouri, is located. After Monroe County, students from surrounding counties will receive secondary preference.

“[The Brazeales] want to be sure to support their community and the folks they know,” McCauley said.

Charles Brazeale graduated from MU in 1957 where he earned a degree in agricultural economics at CAFNR. After being a member of the ROTC, he fulfilled a 20-year career in the military and at the Pentagon before returning to Paris.

“We strongly believe in higher education,” the Brazeales said an MU News Bureau news release. “We also believe that CAFNR has world-class faculty and staff who are student-focused and oriented on preparing its graduates for careers in today’s ever-changing global economy.”

Charles Brazeale is also involved with the college as the CAFNR representative of the Mizzou: Our Time to Lead campaign. The campaign aims to place MU alongside other elite public universities by building MU’s endowment, establishing signature centers and institutes and spurring a campus renaissance.

“Providing scholarship assistance is our way of helping individuals attend the University of Missouri who may not otherwise be able to do so,” the Brazeales said in the news release.

Like many of MU’s alumni, the Brazeales are frequent supporters of Mizzou Athletics and often come to university events.

“The Brazeales are great proponents of the CAFNR student experience, and we cannot thank them enough for their remarkable generosity,” CAFNR Dean Christopher Daubert said in the news release.

Once the scholarship is available, both incoming and continuing students will be considered through the general CAFNR application due Feb. 1. Each year the college awards more than $1.3 million in scholarships and nearly three-quarters of all the students that apply are awarded, according to the news release.

Freshman Allison Hofer, a possible future scholarship applicant, is majoring in animal science at CAFNR with plans to attend veterinary school.

“People donating scholarships to my college is validating,” Hofer said. “It inspires me to continue pursuing my degree and my aspirations, knowing that other people care about them too.”

_Edited by Olivia Garrett | ogarrett@themaneater.com_

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