Student Abigail Greaves selected as first recipient of UWinnipeg’s Garnet Kyle Scholarship
WINNIPEG, MB – Seventeen year-old Abigail Greaves has come to study theatre at The University of Winnipeg the long way `round. She started out in Devon, England, went to high school at Shevchenko Collegiate in Vita, Manitoba and now finds herself centre stage at UWinnipeg’s Asper Centre for Theatre and Film. Greaves is the first recipient of UWinnipeg’s Garnet Kyle Scholarship, worth up to $40,000 – the largest offered to a Canadian student at UWinnipeg. It allows for $10,000 per year of studies to cover tuition and books, accommodation and food. It is unique in that it specifically supports a rural student from Dominion City and the surrounding area for undergraduate or graduate studies at UWinnipeg.
“My parents had a midlife crisis four years ago and decided to leave England to become farmers in Manitoba,” laughs Greaves, whose family settled near Vita in 2007 to raise sheep. ”I came from a small high school in Vita with a graduating class of just 26 people, so I was scared coming to UWinnipeg at first. But I am finding my way around, and the atmosphere is strict but laid back at the same time.”
The University of Winnipeg created the Garnet Kyle Scholarship in March 2011 as a result of a very significant $500,000 donation from the estate of the late Mr. Garnet Kyle, which the University is matching through the Manitoba Scholarship Bursary Initiative, for a total of $1 million. It is achievement-based, awarded to a grade 12 student with an average of 90% or higher, or for graduate students to qualify, they must have an undergraduate grade point average of 4.00 or higher.
“I am really thankful for the generous financial support,” says Greaves. “It has enabled a smooth transition for me from high school to university. I don’t have to worry about feeding myself or rent. It is a burden that is gone.”
The late Garnet Kyle was a lifelong resident of Dominion City, longtime Councillor in the RM of Franklin, and school board trustee in the Boundary School Division. Kyle spent all of his life in local politics and ran as a candidate the 1973 provincial election. He was active in many community projects including construction, at his own expense, of a nine-hole golf course in Dominion City that is free to youth in the area.
“Some of the most entrepreneurial citizens in Manitoba, like Garnet Kyle, come from small towns and close-knit communities, where imagination, hard work and tenacity are core values,” said Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President and Vice-Chancellor, UWinnipeg. “We are proud to support and nurture the talent of Abigail, as a result of this new and unique scholarship.”
MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
