Gift Supports Extended Studies in Germany

A $1 million gift will enable Valparaiso University students to spend an entire academic year in Germany.

Five Valpo students have been chosen as recipients of the first Henry and June Giebel Study Abroad Scholarships, designed for undergraduates who plan to pursue careers teaching German or who are enrolled in the Valpo International Engineering Program-German.

The scholarships will help cover housing expenses and introduce students to the city of Rottenburg am Neckar and to the life and works of its native son Josef Eberle, the uncle of Henry Giebel.

Eberle, a well-known poet, journalist, essayist and Latinist, was witness to the Weimar Republic, the era of National Socialism and World War II, and the rebuilding of democratic Germany.              

Henry and June Giebel have been supporters of Valpo’s German program since 2000, when the Kade-Duesenberg German House opened. Previously they created the Eberle Endowment, which enables students and scholars from Rottenburg am Neckar to spend time at VU.