Mr. and Mrs. Anthony and Kathleen Phipps

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony and Kathleen Phipps established the Raben-Mudd Scholarship in honor of their mothers.

The Raben-Mudd Scholarship was established from the maiden names of the mothers of the husband and wife donors. Both donors are first generation college graduates from very simple and modest backgrounds. They attended SIUC in the 1970s and both graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees from the College of Business in Accounting. Both have had very successful and rewarding careers while working in Accounting, Tax, and Finance roles in both public accounting and industry.

The donors grew up and graduated from high schools in the Southern Illinois area and then went on to attend SIUC for four years. One attended Carmi-White County High School and the other Marion High School. The donors wish to honor their mothers with this award. Ms. Mudd, grew up on a dairy farm in southern Illinois and did not graduate from high school as a result of her family relocating during what would have been her senior year. She never shared this with her six children but instead strongly insisted that they go to college and become educated because as she told them “they can never take your education away from you”. She later went back and succeeded in completing her GED. She went to beauty school as a young adult and worked in that profession during the World War II years. Ms. Raben also grew up on a farm in southern Illinois and only attended school through the eighth grade. She continued to work on the farm and later worked in a local garment factory before her marriage. She died suddenly at an early age while her three children were still young. The donors would like to think that she would have been extremely proud that her children completed their college education.

The donors feel extremely lucky to have had the good fortune to attend SIUC and earn professional degrees. This accomplishment opened extraordinary opportunities for both of them and they continue to reap the benefits of their good fortune.

In order to show appreciation for their tremendous success made possible by attending SIUC, and also honor the memory of their mothers, the donors would like to assist future generations of SIUC students with this scholarship to provide funds for their higher education goals.