Hobart and William Smith Colleges

17 July 2024 • Alums Green Scholarship Strengthens HWS-Western NY Connections By Natalia St.Lawrence '16

Former HWS Trustee Boo Green ’83 is a proud son, both of his parents, William and Diane Green, and of his hometown, East Aurora, N.Y.

In 2007, in honor of his parents and their 50th wedding anniversary, Boo and his brothers Andrew, Kevin and Matthew ’87 created a scholarship for students attending Hobart and William Smith who hail from Western New York, with preference given to students residing in East Aurora, or Batavia, their parents' hometown. 

Recently, Green provided additional support to grow the endowed fund for a new generation of Hobart and William Smith students.

“I believe that independent thought and thought leadership is important,” he says. “And I think it's more important than ever that people have the opportunity to have an intimate and interactive collegiate experience so they can really find out who they are.”   

Looking back at his own time as a student, Green says HWS is where he really became an adult. He found supportive faculty, like Professor of History Robert Huff – known to students, Green says, as “Tough Huff” - who nurtured his ability to think critically. 

“The first day I walked on campus, I wasn’t treated like a kid. I really felt that HWS helped me be accountable to understanding that my words and actions matter,” Green says.

To date, 17 students have become Green Scholars. Each one has achieved a high degree of academic scholarship and has demonstrated significant leadership qualities in their community and on campus.

Madeline Wasner ’25, from East Aurora, says the Green Scholarship has opened doors on campus and abroad.

“I am honored to be a Green Scholar, which has allowed me to pursue all of my academic, athletic and extracurricular interests,” says the media and society and economics double major. “With the help of the Green Scholarship, I have been able to experience life changing opportunities, such as studying abroad in France, that I am deeply thankful for.”

In July, Boo and his wife Sharon will host a reception for the Green Scholars in East Aurora at the Roycroft Inn to celebrate the scholars, the town and the connection to HWS.

As the son of the former town supervisor, Green says that, “East Aurora is a significant part of who I am.”

The choice of venue, the Roycroft Inn, is a nod to the town’s special history: in 1895, Elbert Hubbard founded the Roycroft movement, an arts and craft guild that had a significant impact on American architecture and design. In addition to Roycroft, East Aurora boasts several landmarks, including the first suburban chapter of the Boys and Girls Club, where a plaque proudly displays the names of HWS alumni from the town.

Over the years, Green’s volunteer commitments to HWS, including serving on the Board of Trustees, brought him closer to his alma mater, but the scholarship and its recipients have deepened and personalized that connection.

Today, former Green Scholar Calvin Klube ’23 works with William at his company, Ginkgo Residential in Charlotte, N.C. Klube, who serves as an asset manager and acquisitions analyst, will travel to East Aurora for the July reception to deliver remarks at the event.

“When we first created the scholarship, we didn’t think about it as personalized. We just knew we wanted to do something purposeful and we didn’t want capable students to be deterred by the sticker price of higher education,” Green says.

But when the Green family met the first recipients —  Jessica Curtis ’12, now a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at HSBC, and Sarah McCabe ’12, now a vice president at J.P. Morgan — the individual impact became clear.

“The scholarship enabled me to have an enriching HWS education with professors who truly cared about the success of their students,” Curtis says. “I got to be part of one of the nation’s best soccer programs, develop lifelong friendships and forge relationships with incredible alumni that kickstarted a successful career that I am truly passionate about — all made possible by the Greens’ generosity. I’m so happy to have gotten to know a truly incredible family.”