Ted Nolan creates FNUniv scholarship for Indigenous women in honour of late mother
- EFN Staff | September 20, 2018
A former NHL Indigenous hockey player recently donated $75,000 to go towards scholarships aimed for Indigenous women students who are enrolled at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv).
“When we started our foundation 2004, to help our women with their education pursuits and been blessed to have some really good donors to help us more and now looking at institutions like this, it was a perfect fit,” said Ted Nolan, who is also the founder of the Ted Nolan Foundation. “I’m hoping it encourages to contribute more. You could never invest in a better investment than our people and our youth…hopefully this contribution makes a difference in someone’s life.”
The scholarship will be named the Rose Nolan Scholarship after the former hockey player’s late mother.
Nolan tragically lost his mother to a drunk driving car accident back in 1981 and since then, has worked hard to make a difference in other lives.
“It took me a long time to get over that hurt,” he said. “ once I did, I wanted to make a contribution to the people who make the biggest contribution to our people and that’s our women.”
Nolan made the donation announcement on September 18th and presented a cheque to FNUniv Board of Governors president, Lucy Musqua.
“This is absolutely phenomenal!” she said. “Our student body is made up of 85-90% Indigenous women. This comes as a good kind of shock and a gratefulness that will be carried throughout the semesters.”
Musqua said this contribution will encourage Indigenous women students to apply for this and other scholarships. She added this scholarship will be going to students involved in sports, business academia and community involvement. It isn’t known when the Ted Nolan scholarship will be ready for students to apply but Musqua confirms each scholarship will be between $5,000-$7,500.
In total, the Ted Nolan Foundation picked 7 universities and colleges all across Canada to donate for scholarship programs. It’s a good feeling that he is able to give back to communities nationwide.
“It feels really good to even think of that kind of money,” said Nolan. “I wish I could give more…maybe down the road.”