Premier Brian Pallister presents significant gift to alma mater, Brandon University

Students and student-athletes at Brandon University will benefit for years to come thanks to a series of scholarships set up by one of the school’s most distinguished alumni.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister today announced gifts of nearly $260,000 that will endow two new scholarships at BU, as well as increasing the value of existing scholarships he had previously endowed. The new gifts more than quadruple the Pallister family’s endowments at BU.

“I was raised with the strong belief that a quality education is essential to building a successful and prosperous future,” said Premier Brian Pallister. “I am thankful for the scholarships I received that allowed me to obtain a post-secondary education and even more thankful that our family can pay-it-forward to ensure more students are able to benefit from this additional assistance.”

Today’s gifts were made in memory of Pallister’s younger sister, Peggy Tidsbury, who passed away last year.

One of the new scholarships will benefit male student-athletes, mirroring an existing scholarship that Pallister had established in 2014 to benefit female student-athletes. As a BU student in the 1970s, Pallister played for the Bobcats men’s basketball team from 1974–76 and then returned for the 1979-80 season to help the Bobcats win their first-ever conference championship and reach the national final. In 2018, he was inducted into BU’s Dick and Verda McDonald Sports Wall of Fame.

The other new scholarship will benefit students who are coming to BU to finish a joint program with Assiniboine Community College. These programs, which combine hands-on learning with deep understanding, include Business Administration, Public History, Digital Media and Design, Geography, and Environmental Science.

In 2001, Pallister first endowed a series of entrance scholarships to BU, which support incoming BU students from the Central Plains region.

Today’s generous gifts will substantially increase the value of the current awards, while also establishing two new meaningful awards. The gifts are presented as a donor-advised grant through the Brian and Esther Pallister Fund at The Winnipeg Foundation. In total, these gifts will increase direct student support from about $3800 per year to more than $15,400 per year. The total endowment will be held by the BU Foundation and annual disbursements vary slightly based on investment performance.

“There’s no better feeling than knowing you have changed the life of a student. It’s a reason so many people love being teachers and academics, and also why so many of our alumni and donors give so generously to support the Brandon University mission,” said BU President Dr. David Docherty. “It is a huge honour to thank Premier Brian Pallister for his dedication to improving the lives of Brandon University students for generations to come.”

The generosity of BU’s donor network helps support every facet of the institution and each gift has an incomparable return on investment: they are catalysts for change that have an immediate impact while also reverberating well into the future.

It’s easy to contribute to success through the BU Foundation. Learn more at BrandonU.ca/Give, email Advancement@BrandonU.ca or call 204-727-7374. All gifts make a difference in helping BU uphold and enhance a tradition of quality and commitment to excellence. The support of alumni, friends and corporations who believe in BU are recognized and acknowledged.

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