Engel's Story of Deferred Dream Inspires Wainaina's Gift
Earlier this winter, Ruth Saloman Engel, the mother of William Engel, the Nick B. Williams Professor of Literature at Sewanee, passed away in Birmingham. A devotee of the arts and a generous philanthropist, a few years ago Mrs. Engel, with her son Professor Engel, established a scholarship endowment at Sewanee to support students from rural communities within a 100 mile radius of Sewanee. “I literally employed a map and a compass and drew a circle with Sewanee at its center to see where eligible people might live,” says Dr. Engel, of the family’s new endowment. “We excluded cities like Chattanooga, not because there are not deserving people there, but because we wanted the focus to be on people in rural areas.”
At the announcement of the passing of Mrs. Engel, Dean Terry Papillon noted that gifts could be made to the Ruth Saloman Engel scholarship endowment in lieu of flowers, and several colleagues took that step. One of these was Hellen Wainaina, C’18, assistant editor at the Sewanee Review.
“When Dean Papillon said we might give to the Engel fund, I looked it up and read the story of how Ruth was unable to go to college,” says Wainaina. “I was touched by the dream deferred, in part because of my own mother, who also had to defer her dream of a college education.” When Wainaina was quite young, her father, Anthony Kariuki, and Hellen’s siblings emigrated to Houston, while her mother, Christine Kariuki, stayed behind for an administrative job at the University of Dar es Salaam and to take care of the family farm, as she had vocational training and skills in agriculture. Mrs. Kariuki rejoined the family later, and finally had the opportunity to pursue higher education. “She enrolled at the University of Houston when I was in 7th grade,” says Wainaina, who remembers reviewing her mother’s papers. Mrs. Kariuki later earned a degree in political science.
Wainaina was also inspired to give by the kindness shown to her by William Engel when she was a student at Sewanee. “Dr. Engel was one of the people who was really welcoming at Sewanee,” says Wainaina. “His teaching and mentoring is natural and easy. He never questioned my intelligence, and he also helped me in concrete ways.” Wainaina holds an image of Engel seeing her at McClurg and praising her paper and encouraging continued achievement. Early in her career, he also nominated her for a position in the University's writing center. “That was really important for me because it was a paid position, and a position for which you had to be nominated,” says Wainaina. “I would not have known to ask for that, and he nominated me. He is always aware of student needs.”
Today, Wainaina has been accepted in Ph.D. programs at some of the country’s top universities with graduate programs in English. She is considering her future carefully, talking with professors at potential destinations so that she may choose the best fit. Her preparation for this bright future has been founded on the cornerstones of her intelligence, hard work, and generous spirit, nurtured by caring faculty, including Engel.
To make a gift to the Engel Scholarship or to financial aid in general, click here.
