Michael's Story As a college student entering his senior year at Duke University, Michael Corey was excited about the experiences and opportunities that would pervade that, his final year.
In August 2004, just days after returning to Duke University, Michael received devastating news about his father that would change the course of his senior year and the rest of his life. This news and eventual passing of his father spurred Michael to write an essay about his experience in the student magazine he presided over as editor, Towerview Magazine.
Michael's piece won Rolling Stone's 27th Annual College Journalism Competition in the category of Essay and Criticism in 2005. The editors of Rolling Stone magazine judged the entries and awarded Michael a $2,500 prize for his essay. And because of the extraordinary care Michael's father, George, received from health care professionals at Mount Carmel during his illness, Michael donated a third of his prize to the Mount Carmel College of Nursing.
Michael's generous donation will help fund scholarships for College of Nursing students.
Once a Champion for Nurses in the Hospital, Now a Champion for Giving the Gift of Nursing Education
Lillian Singer Will ’54 is not shy about what she believes in, and she strongly believes in nurses. Retired from a long and extraordinary nursing career, Lillian’s decades of commitment live on in her generous gift of scholarships that aspiring nurses will enjoy and embrace for years to come.
Long a champion for nurses, Lillian was a trail blazer for the nursing profession. As administrator, nursing services, at Mount Carmel, she created a nurse/physician advisory council for fact-based and collegial clarification of professional practice issues. For this initiative, Lillian was published in the Journal of Nursing Administration (February 1979). Lillian was also one of the first to hire a male nurse, even though the medical staff was skeptical.
Lillian was so devoted to her nurses that she would agree to become acting COO of Mount Carmel West, only if she could eventually return to administrator of nursing.
When she married in 1980, Lillian kept it secret until she told her nurses. “I wanted the nurses to get some news first for once,” said Lillian. Fortunately for Mount Carmel nursing students, Lillian is still dedicated to nurses.
“I have a long history with Mount Carmel, and I am happy to help,” Lillian said of her scholarship fund and yearly donations to MCCN.
The daughter of German immigrants, Lillian entered Mount Carmel School of Nursing in 1951. She remembers lights out at 10 p.m., no married students, no jewelry, and no radios. “Although we did have a radio that we kept in a shopping bag,” laughed Lillian.
For five years, Lillian worked in the surgical unit at Mount Carmel. Then Lillian and Mary Margaret Sherry ’48 moved to New York City to work at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for 15 years. After six months, Lillian was promoted to head nurse, later to supervisor, and then to associate director.
At the same time her father became ill, Mount Carmel offered Lillian the director of nursing position. So Lillian returned home to Columbus and Mount Carmel, and to care for her dying father.
Upon Lillian’s return to Mount Carmel after a 15-year absence, she experienced “one of the most important moments” of her life. A nursing aide Lillian had worked with so long ago greeted her with great joy and affection.
“We all worked together, and I always tried to treat everyone the same,” said Lillian. “That was the most important thing.”
Leaving a Legacy for Nursing Education
The William J. & Marjorie Bolte Kelly Scholarship
“I have a lot to be thankful for,” said Marjorie Bolte Kelly, Class of ’44. She was thinking about her long marriage to her late husband, her seven grown children, her grandchildren, her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Marge was also thinking about the Holy Cross Sisters, and her nursing education at Mount Carmel.
Marge learned about a giving a scholarship endowment by attending a Planned Giving Seminar at the College. She consulted her financial advisor to ensure that the scholarship donation would be compatible with her plans to remember her family.
“I wanted to give back because of all that I received from Mount Carmel,” Marge said. “I wanted to give to someone in financial need, someone who is hard-working and a good student.”
Marge was happy to learn that she could designate the criteria for the awarding of the scholarship. She also was pleased at how easy it was to establish the scholarship; the Mount Carmel Foundation guided her every step of the way and worked with the financial planner.
Marge worked in surgery at Mount Carmel for a year after graduation. Then she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. Marge returned to Mount Carmel School of Nursing as a member of the faculty in the late 1940s, establishing yet another close tie with her alma mater.
“There is such a shortage of nurses now. The nursing profession and medical care will suffer if people fail to become nurses because they can’t afford the education,” said Marge. At age 83, Marge is thinking about the future of her profession and medical care and doing something positive.
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