Students, donors celebrate impact of scholarships
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Denaeya Easley, MD Class of 2027, first connected with EVMS when she was a student at Granby High School. An evening anatomy workshop spoke to her growing interest in healthcare and piqued her interest in the institution.
Today, Easley, the recipient of both The Hearts 4 Progress and Challen scholarships at EVMS, says she’s excited to take what she learns in medical school and bring it back to the Hampton Roads community.
“As someone who is from Hampton Roads — and hopes to practice here one day — I am uniquely familiar with the idea that patients want to see more doctors who come from my background,” Easley says. “So many patients in this area are looking for physicians that resemble them, who understand their experiences. Serving underrepresented communities — especially the minority community — is near and dear to my heart.”
Easley recently shared her story during EVMS’ 2024 Scholarship Reception, an event that brought together scholarship recipients, donors and community members to celebrate the impact of philanthropy on a student’s life and education.
“We are here tonight to talk about scholarships — and scholarships are really about investments,” said Bruce Waldholtz, MD, Rector of the EVMS Board of Visitors, during his opening remarks. “When we present scholarships to students, we invest in their future and ours…For every patient we treat — and every research effort we take part in — we have the potential to touch the lives of dozens, sometimes hundreds of people.”
EVMS supporters Claus Ihlemann and his husband, Robert Roman, also attended the reception and shared their connection with Dorothy Middleton, including how Middleton’s philanthropic nature shaped their own lives and perspectives on charitable giving.
The Dorothy M. Middleton Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to one EVMS medical student from Virginia, based on academic excellence and financial need. It was EVMS’ first full in-state tuition scholarship and was funded by an endowment bequeathed by its late namesake.
As the owners of Decorum Furniture, Ihlemann and Roman have redeveloped and revitalized Norfolk’s 21st Street Corridor. Ihlemann was close with Middleton and her son, Buzzie, and has been the executor of the estate that established the scholarship.
“I was very fortunate to have known Mrs. Middleton for many years,” Ihlemann shared in his remarks. “She spent a great deal of her life living just across the street from here at Redgate and Colley Avenue. She owned an apartment building there and, over time, Mrs. Middleton grew very fond of renting to medical students and residents. She loved them because they were very quiet and worked very hard. Hard work was something she knew very well from her long career.”
During the event, Alfred Abuhamad, MD, President, Provost and Dean of the School of Medicine, shared his own perspective on the power of scholarships and gave special thanks to recent donors, including the contributions of Brad Waitzer and the Waitzer Scholarship Challenge.
That effort, which ran from February to August last year raised more than $3 million from 135 donors —including 48 EVMS alumni — to fund 18 new scholarships.
In addition, Dr. Abuhamad thanked the Beazley Foundation and President Steve Best for the establishment of EVMS’ newest scholarship, created in tribute to EVMS Board Member W. Ashton Lewis Sr.
Those investments — and others like them — build on EVMS’ 50-year history in Hampton Roads and help to create a sustainable future, said Dr. Abuhamad, also the Mason C. Andrews Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“Fifty years ago, EVMS was founded by the community, for the community,” Dr. Abuhamad shared during his remarks. “That foundational relationship remains at our core…Our students are driven to be part of efforts to give back to and improve our community. In turn, our community members, friends, partners, neighbors and donors are committed to supporting our students. It is heartening and humbling to see that altruism — that culture of giving and caring — from our founding in 1973 all the way forward to this very evening.”
Watch a video overview.
Pictured above are scholarship recipients Morgan Shelton, MD Class of 2024, Ericka Jacobs, Medical Master's Class of 2024, and Micailya Mattson, MD Class of 2024.