Phil and Colleen Kirst
|
Giving Back
Trojan couple creates scholarship to support students
By Kaitlin Solimine
“Without a doubt, I would not have been able to attend USC College were
it not for the scholarship I received,” says Colleen Phipps Kirst, a
1945 USC College graduate who attended high school in Kansas City,
Missouri.
In the spring of 1941, Colleen, class valedictorian, was encouraged by
her high school principal to apply for one of USC’s National Tuition
Scholarships, a four-year scholarship offered to 25 students nationwide.
Upon receiving the scholarship, Colleen could hardly realize how it
would affect her life, what amazing opportunities it would provide her
and the lifelong friends it would allow her to meet.
At the same time, halfway across the country, a California boy from La
Cañada-Flintridge had his plans well laid out. Phil Kirst wanted to be
a builder and upon matriculating at USC, entered the School of
Architecture. Phil enrolled in the naval ROTC program and received his
naval sciences degree and commission in 1945. He served in the Pacific
until mid-1946 when he received his discharge and returned to USC,
switching to the School of Business. After graduating in 1947, he
established the Phillip P. Kirst Company, Builders and Developers.
The Kirsts were both very active on campus, participating in many
service and social organizations. While acquainted, the couple did not
officially begin dating until Phil, with urging from friends, asked
Colleen to attend the Trojan Knight formal dinner dance.
The rest one could say is history. Their four daughters graduated
from USC College and their grandson, Eric Kirst, is currently a
sophomore in the College, studying political science.
“We have remained active on campus, starting in 1950 when we served as
founding members of the ‘reunion of the 40s’ committee which organized
reunions for classes of the 40s,” says Phil. While their daughters were
enrolled in the 1970s, Colleen served as president of the Alpha Phi
mother’s club and of the intersorority mother’s club in 1973-74.
The couple sighs, half-reminiscing, half-awestruck, when asked how USC
has changed since their days on campus. “The University has done a
marvelous job in ongoing development through the years,” says Colleen.
“The campus is beautiful—one of the best in the nation, especially
among urban campuses.”USC has done so many great things for the
surrounding community,” adds Phil.
The decision for the Kirsts to establish a USC College scholarship in
July 1999—called the Phillip Kirst and Colleen Kirst Endowed
Scholarship—was an easy one.
“Because of the cost of higher education today,” notes Colleen,
“middle-class families are often caught in a trap. Lower income
students can receive government grants. Wealthy families can afford the
tuition. Middle-class students, however, have to struggle to pay the
bills.”
The Kirsts hope their scholarship will help students stuck in that
middle area.Presidential Associates and members of the board of the
Half-Century Trojan Club, the Kirsts know that scholarships are a
motivating force within universities.
“We both credit our years at USC as some of the best times in our
lives,” Phil says. Colleen agrees: “This scholarship is a way for us to
give back to the University and perpetuate the ability for students to
attend this great school.”
This year’s recipients of the Kirst scholarship are Kim Driftmier, a
kinesiology major, Tracy Hensley, a major in classics, and Rachael
Sonntag-Bloom, a political science major.
|
|
|
