Nathan Williams Scholarship Fund

https://www.nbc29.com/2020/12/14/friends-use-novembeard-tradition-honor-one-their-own-with-legacy-scholarship-fund/

Every year since 2008 or so our group of friends have participated in what we have dubbed Novembeard, where we freely grow our facial hair for a month while also raising money for a worthy cause. At the conclusion of the month we get together for a weekend to show off our impressive (or unimpressive) facial growth, play some flag football, and share good times with each other. 

In 2018 the focus of our fundraising changed as one of us, Nate Williams, was diagnosed with colon cancer. We shifted to help raise money for medical expenses for him and to make donations to the good people at the The Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers at Georgetown University, where Nate was receiving treatment. Nate bravely lived with his cancer for years, but sadly we lost him in April 2020. Nate was a special person to many, including his family, friends, and wife Faith, who gave birth to their twin sons after his passing. 

Since then, we have focused our fundraising for Novembeard to help memorialize Nate for years to come. It was his wish that a scholarship be established at Virginia Tech, a place that brought all of us together, through the Beyond Boundaries Scholars program. This would be an annual scholarship awarded to a student in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, from which Nate graduated. These scholarships are used as a key recruitment tool by the university for underrepresented and high achieving students toward the strategic goal of providing a truly inclusive student body.  

We've had tremendous success in establishing this scholarship for the next several years, but ultimately we would like to be able to establish an endowment for this scholarship that will guarantee that the scholarship will continue on in Nate's name. Please consider donating to help establish this endowment that will help future architecture students and memorialize our friend for years to come.