SIU’s vice chancellor for enrollment management witnesses impact firsthand
By Jeff Wilson
Growing up in rural Arkansas, Wendell and Gloria Williams have never forgotten their roots.
“We come from families that had zero,” said Wendell Williams, vice chancellor for enrollment management at Southern Illinois University. “One thing we always asked for was the ability to give. Every place we have gone, we have made a commitment to endow a scholarship.”
The Wendell and Gloria Williams Family Scholarship lends support to Black SIU students as they pursue their education goals.
“When we receive a letter back from a student, you have no idea how much that means,” he said. “We don’t know if that person will eventually be the cure for cancer or if that person is going to solve some of these racial issues we’re facing or be the president of the United States. Our gift is invisible, but the results, one day, are going to always be visible.”
Despite humble beginnings, Williams was rich in community and family life. He was the first in his family to graduate from college.
“My parents constantly gave to the community. We had a piece of land in front of our house, and they sowed vegetables. Anyone who wanted could come pick from that garden,” he said. “Our community church was so proud of anyone attending college. If you came home on the weekend, the church – which also didn’t have any money – would take up a collection and invest in you. We were representing them and doing something that they were not able to do.”
After graduating from Arkansas State University, Williams was planning to take courses at Southern in a doctoral program, but he was offered a job to become a vice president at a community college instead. He started working at SIU in 2021.
“SIU is a wonderful place,” he said. “It’s so great when we tell our incoming students about our hundreds of thousands of living alumni, and they can see them giving back. It shows that they were able to do well after coming to SIU, and they never forget those connections and want to give back.”
As vice chancellor, Williams works with students every day and see the impact of donor scholarships.
“For the average student, there’s a gap of about $3,500, and that doesn’t count living expenses or books. That gap is what really needs to be covered, and SIU Foundation scholarships do a great job of that,” he said.
Williams urges people interested in giving to think small and not be intimidated by large dollar amounts.
“We started by sitting down and saying, ‘What can we sacrifice without making it hurt on us?’ We settled on $100 a month, so we just started there,” Williams said. “It was stuff we didn’t miss, such as dessert after a meal or one less soda, one less drink. Don’t try to start big. Start and be consistent, and then you see the results of that, and it motivates you to do a little bit more. I wish we could give out more scholarships than we do. Think of the impact that would have. Imagine that.”
To make a gift, visit siuf.org.
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