Linda and
Bernie Bacher have warm feelings for Bellarmine University. It’s where their
only child, Brittany, earned her BA and her MBA, and where she met her future
husband, Christopher Shaefer.
“Education
is so important to Bernie and me, and we always encouraged Brittany to get a
good education,” Linda says. “We feel that doors were opened to her because of
Bellarmine.”
The Bachers
were so impressed by Brittany and Chris’ Bellarmine experience that they have established
an endowed scholarship in their estate plans and named it in honor of their daughter
and son-in-law. Their goal is to open doors for excellent students who
otherwise couldn’t afford to attend Bellarmine.
“The big
thing is that, in our society, if you don’t have anything, there are tons of
scholarships you can get. If your
parents are well-to-do, you don’t have to worry about scholarships; your
parents will help you,” Linda says. “But I’ve seen wonderful students who
couldn’t get any help because they fell into the middle-income slot. We thought
we’d establish a scholarship to help the students who really need the help.”
The
scholarship established by the Bachers, who live in Elizabethtown, gives
preference to students from Hardin, LaRue and Hart counties. “Students in the
smaller counties don’t always know what to do, where to go for scholarships.
They might think Bellarmine is out of their price range,” Linda says. “We
wanted to give those students an opportunity to achieve what our daughter and
son-in-law achieved.”
Linda hopes
that Brittany and Chris will also eventually decide to contribute to the
scholarship fund – and maybe to Bellarmine’s future enrollment.
“Someday,
hopefully, we’ll have grandchildren at Bellarmine.”