Knight Family Scholarship

“Blest be the tie that binds” is a phrase that certainly applies to this scholarship and to the two other scholarships inspired by members of the Laine/Nelson/Knight family.

The family’s first established scholarship was created by Kathy Knight’s aunt, Marjorie Laine, in 1974, the Leo Laine Memorial Scholarship. The family’s second scholarship was established by Kathy Knight’s father, Harold Nelson, in 1993, the Ida Marie Nelson Endowed Scholarship in memory of his mother.

Those two earlier scholarships had already established s tie between the Knight family and CLU when Kathy Nelson Knight and her husband Morris encouraged their son Justin to attend CLU. Justin was a strong student leader on campus who went to work in CLU’s Community Service Center after he graduated in 1996. Justin also found the love of his life at CLU when he married classmate Susan Seegmiller ’96. Jonathan Knight, Justin’s brother, also came to CLU as a student but transferred before completing his degree.

With so many connections to the University and personal experience with the financial commitment required of CLU parents, Kathy and Morris Knight followed the earlier examples of Kathy’s father and aunt, initiating the Knight Family Scholarship. Kathy was an experienced schoolteacher and Morris, a successful businessman in the Stockton-Lodi area. They put their combined creative juices to work and utilized Morris’ company’s matching gift privilege to maximize their personal stewardship in building the scholarship endowment. They reached their goal within three years, and the endowment then began producing earnings for the scholarship.

Fittingly, the recipient of the Knight Family Scholarship must be a business major of at least sophomore standing who must have demonstrated leadership skills. And so the Knight family, even in retirement, continues to be involved in the life of CLU.