Gary Savill and his wife Barbara Stampfli-Savill, a St. Louis couple, have made a gift of $2.5 million to the University Of Missouri College Of Veterinary Medicine. The couple, who own and operate Silver Wraith Choppers, LLC in St. Louis, has no previous connection either to the university or its College of Veterinary Medicine.
The University said that the gift will be used to create an endowment to support scholarships for veterinary students.
Every year, the Stampfli-Savill endowment will provide one or more partial scholarships to students with financial problems and those who belong to underrepresented ethnic groups. Scholarship recipients will be asked to perform at least 120 hours of animal-related community and volunteer service each year.
"...we hope this gift will help care for animals around the nation and the world by educating future classes of veterinarians. We also wish to enable students who otherwise would not be able to afford the education and training required to enter this noble profession. Another important aspect of this scholarship is volunteer work; we hope that students who receive this scholarship will be inspired to continue such charitable work throughout their careers," Gary Savill said in a statement.
R. Bowen Loftin, MU Chancellor, said that the couple are not only assisting MU coach the future leaders in the field of veterinary medicine, but also helping students fulfil their academic and career aspirations.
Besides their monetary donation, the Stampfli-Savills have donated a custom-made motorcycle to Missouri's veterinary school. The vehicle will be auctioned as a part of the college's annual Gentle Doctor Benefit (GDB).
