Newman University nursing students Emily Spexarth of Colwich, Kan., and Clarissa Stuhlsatz of Garden Plain, Kan., each received a $500 scholarship to help cover the costs of their studies from the Forty & Eight, an independent military veterans charitable organization.
Spexarth and Stuhlsatz received the Charles E. Bell Nurses Training Scholarship from the Forty & Eight during a special ceremony at Newman on Dec. 10.
The scholarship award was presented by Susan Livingston, directeur of the Charles E. Bell Nurses Training Scholarship Program. The program is sponsored by the Forty & Eight, Voiture 58 du Wichita, Kansas.
The Forty & Eight is an independent charitable organization of male and female veterans and former and active duty military personnel. The Forty & Eight has chapters, called voitures, across the nation. The organization was founded in 1920 by U.S. veterans who had served in France during World War I. The name of the organization refers to numbers painted on railroad boxcars during the war, signifying that the car could contain 40 men or eight horses. The Forty & Eight was originally an arm of the American Legion, and became independent in 1960. Membership is by invitation only.
The Forty & Eight Nurses Training Scholarship Programs across the nation have awarded more than $20 million in scholarships to more than 23,000 nursing students since its inception in the early 1950s. More than $1 million has been awarded to students this year. In addition to the cash award, Spexarth and Stuhlsatz received framed certificates of their award and the Forty & Eight 2015 Nurses Training Club Pin.