Grit.

It’s a passionate dedication to achieving a goal.

Kids with grit are curious and confident. They control their emotions. They stay focused. Kids with grit are more likely to grow into great adults, no matter how they started out.

The new Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska hopes to become a national leader in early childhood education.

Find out how its new leader says we can create more kids with grit.

By 2003, Eric Silvius had not heard his wife speak in 13 years.

Multiple sclerosis had taken her voice. It had taken her ability to swallow. Her arms. Her legs. Her clear vision. It had taken the job she loved as a psychologist. 

But her voice, which Penny lost around 1990, was the hardest test for the Silviuses because it affected the way they communicated as husband and wife.

The Silviuses, both Navy veterans, moved from California to Lincoln in 2002 when Eric took a job as an executive with Meyer Foods. In 2003, Penny had throat surgery in Omaha.

One morning a few days after the surgery, Eric took a phone call at work. The voice on the other end was hoarse.

But he knew it instantly.

I think my voice is coming back!

“It was like Christmas when you’re a kid,” Eric said. “After that, you couldn’t call our home phone because it was always busy – I think she called up everybody she knew.”

The thankful couple decided to give back.

Find out what they did and how yet another miracle came their way.  

The University of Nebraska Foundation has announced plans for a comprehensive fundraising campaign to meet high-priority opportunities and needs for the university’s four campuses. More details, including the campaign goal and leadership, will be announced later this fall. Campaign priorities will include student scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, research and academic program support.

Visitors to the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal, Neb., can share the same joy and adventure as the paleontologists who discover fossils each day in the newly opened Hubbard Rhino Barn. The new building covers 17,500 square-feet—eight times larger than the one it replaces—and allows for the discovery and protection of many more fossils and enhances the experiences for visitors to the unique park.

The Minden Exchange Bank & Trust Co. has created two scholarship funds to help students attend the University of Nebraska. The first scholarship will be awarded in the 2009-2010 academic year to a Minden student attending any campus of the University of Nebraska system.

A lifelong resident of Gresham, Neb., has provided a $3.5 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to create scholarships for students. As the sole beneficiary of Schmitt’s estate, the foundation received $2 million in September of 2008 and another $1.5 million by the end of the year.

The University of Nebraska Foundation’s board of directors awarded $1.14 million to the University of Nebraska through its annual grants program to support projects and programs on all four campuses for 2008-2009. Much of the annual grant resources are made available from unrestricted donations to the foundation. The chancellors submit proposals annually for the grant money, and the proposals are aligned with the university’s strategic framework, as outlined by NU President James B. Milliken.

Two $1,000 scholarships are helping two Fillmore County students attend the University of Nebraska this year. Richard and Louisa Manning of Geneva created the scholarships last year for graduates of Exeter/Milligan and Fillmore Central high schools to attend one of the University of Nebraska campuses. The scholarship, a minimum of $1,000 each academic year, is for students to pursue any major.

A groundbreaking event June 5, 2008, at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal marked construction of a new 17,500 square-feet facility to allow the excavation and protection of many more fossils buried there. Plans for the project began in 2007 when the Theodore F. and Claire M. Hubbard Family Foundation of Omaha announced a $1.2 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation for construction of the facility to greatly expand the current Rhino Barn.

The family of Martha Jungck Hunzeker of Rushville has established an endowed memorial scholarship in her name with a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The scholarship is available to graduates of a Sheridan County high school. Each year, a $500 scholarship will be awarded from the Martha Jungck Hunzeker Scholarship Fund to a graduate of Hay Springs High School or Gordon-Rushville High School.