Ken Rickli Tiffany Shearer

Tiffany Shearer’s entire future, not to mention her ambition of attending college, was suddenly in peril when her mother abandoned her in 2012 at the start of her senior year at Affton High School.

“She said she was leaving to go on a three-week business trip and never returned home. The fact that my father has never been a part of my life, and my grandma had recently passed away, I really didn’t have any family or financial support,” Shearer said.

Getting through her senior year was physically, mentally and emotionally draining.

Earlier that same year, Affton High School and Truman alumnus Kenneth Rickli (’65) and his wife Kathleen created the Rickli Family Scholarship with a six-figure gift to the Truman State University Foundation. This renewable full-tuition scholarship is now awarded annually to an Affton High School senior who demonstrates great promise of future success at Truman. This scholarship has proved to be a godsend for Shearer.

“Being named a Rickli Scholar has meant the world to me,” she said. “Without this scholarship, I would not have been able to attend Truman and may never have been able to get the education that I have always worked so hard toward. The Truman experience has helped make my dreams a reality.”

Due to the Rickli’s generosity Shearer is thriving at Truman.

“Despite all of the challenges I have faced, I am extremely proud to say that of my six semesters here at Truman, this is my fourth semester receiving a 4.0 GPA, and my cumulative GPA is 3.88,” Shearer said.

Her future is very bright.