A $50,000 gift from a West Virginia University engineering alumnus will provide permanent support for a peer mentorship program in the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
Michael Reilley, a 1984 WVU mechanical engineering graduate who spent 42 years as a shipbuilding engineer, donated to the Statler College Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) Mountaineer Mentor program, which pairs high-performing junior and senior students with younger students to provide academic support.
“Hearing about that mentorship program resonated with me,” Reilley said. “I go back to my time there. I know in several of the classes, I needed help to get through it to understand it. Engineering is not easy.”
Reilley’s daughter, Kristina, is also a Statler College engineering graduate, class of 2015, and the fund has been named the Michael J. (84) and Kristina C. (15) Reilley Mentorship Fund.
The MMAE Mountaineer Mentor program was launched four years ago. Mentors check in with student groups, identify challenges in course content and provide feedback to faculty. They also offer hands-on learning modules and lead sessions on study skills, internships and job interviews. Mentors receive a $500 stipend.
“Supporting peer mentorship has a multiplier effect,” said Jason Gross, department chair and professor. “It simultaneously supports both underclassmen in need of additional academic support and upperclassmen by providing financial assistance to support their service as peer mentors.”
Prior to the gift, the program had relied entirely on year-to-year donations for financial support.
“There was never a sense of competition to see who could get the highest grade,” Reilley said of his time at WVU. “We all worked together. Kristina told me it was very much the same thing for her.”
