As Vice President for Student Affairs at Fairmont State University, Dr. Janna Bredeson sees firsthand the impact that mentorship, belonging, and sustained support can have on first-generation students.

“First-generation students bring incredible resilience, determination, and potential to our campus, but many arrive without the roadmap that others may take for granted. At a regional institution like Fairmont State, programs like the Datha & Gene Smith Fellows Program are transformational because they create both access and belonging,” Bredeson explained. “We are deeply grateful to the Smith family for their continued investment in our students and their belief in the power of higher education to change lives for generations. As the program continues to grow, we are excited to expand leadership development, peer mentoring, and career readiness opportunities that will help our fellows thrive both at Fairmont State and beyond.”

The program is more than a scholarship. This distinction matters. Where scholarships provide a financial boost, the Datha & Gene Smith Fellows Program wraps students in sustained, four-year support. It is financial assistance paired with mentoring, academic resources, cultural experiences, and a dedicated coordinator who serves as advocate and connector for every year of a student’s college career.

The program coordinator is Lauren Pearson, and her approach to the role is as personal as it is practical. “A lot of students are afraid to talk to their advisors or financial aid,” she explains. “I become their middle person. And a lot of times, I’ll walk them to whoever they need to talk to, because it can be scary to navigate a college campus without any baseline for what to expect.”

Fairmont State’s student body reflects the reality of the region: many are from rural West Virginia communities where the path to and through college is not well mapped. When students arrive uncertain of what FAFSA means, unsure how to read a course schedule, or simply not knowing that they are, by definition, a “first-generation” student at all, Pearson meets them exactly where they are.

The program begins before orientation, before roommates arrive, before the noise of a new semester sets in. Each summer, a cohort of incoming fellows arrives on campus four to five days early for the Bridge Program. Participants are selected by a committee, and applicants must be first-generation college students from West Virginia with at least a 2.5 grade point average.

The week is intentionally immersive. Fellows tour campus, explore university technology platforms, meet advisors and support staff, and move through orientation. But they do it as a small, close-knit group, with the full attention of program staff. Last year, that included a whitewater rafting excursion to the New River Gorge, an experience many fellows had never had.

Upon returning to campus, “they ended up playing ultimate Frisbee on the quad on their own,” Pearson recalls with a smile, describing an evening during bridge week when the structured activities gave way to something better. “It wasn’t something we’d planned. It just happened. They had bonded. From that point on, they were united.”

That sense of belonging, forged before the broader campus population arrives, is among the program’s most powerful and intentional gifts. First-generation students often report feeling like outsiders in a place where others seem to know all the unspoken rules. The Bridge program resets that experience from day one.

Program requirements keep fellows engaged and supported throughout the academic year. Each student meets one-on-one with Pearson monthly, participates in a group activity each month – ranging from athletic events to campus programming to community service – and attends monthly study sessions at the Datha & Gene Smith LEAD Center, where tutors in a variety of disciplines are available.

The program’s impact extends beyond its formal structure. Pearson’s office has become an open door for fellows and their friends alike. “Students are now bringing their friends in,” she says. “I’ve become kind of their go-to person.”

In the program’s next phase, fellows who have completed their first year will step into peer mentor roles, leading study hall check-ins, managing social media, and offering the kind of support that can only come from someone who has walked the same path. 

Year two becomes an opportunity to give back while building professional and leadership skills of their own. As fellows advance, the program advances with them. Resume workshops and career exploration are already part of the curriculum. Internship preparation is on the horizon for upperclassmen, and a travel experience is envisioned for year-three students.

What Datha and Gene Smith built, born of quiet generosity and carried forward by their family’s continued commitment, is not merely a program. It is an infrastructure of belonging for students who arrive at Fairmont State carrying ambition and potential but without the roadmap that so many of their peers may take for granted.

Emilio Maset has always known how to listen to himself. When he arrived at a large state university in the fall of 2021, it didn’t take long to recognize that something wasn’t quite right for him there.

“School started on a Wednesday,” he said. “I went Wednesday, Thursday, and by Friday I knew it wasn’t the place for me.”

It wasn’t that Maset didn’t love learning. He did – deeply. He just hadn’t yet found the right fit. A semester of reflection and a change of direction later, he landed at Fairmont State University, initially enrolled in nursing. That path shifted, too. But when he told his parents he thought he wanted to work with computers, their response stopped him short.

“They said, ‘We’ve been telling you that your entire life.’”

Maset graduated in December 2025 with not one but two degrees – a bachelor’s in computer science and a bachelor’s in mathematics.

What drew him to Fairmont State and kept him there was something harder to quantify than a course catalog. After his brief experience at a larger school, he wanted a campus that felt like a campus.

“It felt like it was just a city with some college buildings sprinkled in,” he said. “Here, it actually feels like a place. You can park your car in the morning and get everywhere.”
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That sense of community extended into the classroom. Maset speaks about his professors with a warmth that’s hard to miss. Among those who left a lasting impression: Professor Ted LaRue and Professor Alice LaRue, both retired from the faculty, along with Dr. Mahmood Hossain, Dr. Robert Niichel and Dr. Joseph Riesen.

“I have very few complaints about the professors I had,” he said. “I feel lucky to say that.”

It was Ted LaRue who first nudged Maset toward a math minor, framing it as just a few extra courses. When Maset took him up on it, LaRue encouraged further exploration, pointing out that the full math major was not out of reach.

Beyond the classroom, Maset’s time at Fairmont State took him further than most students travel. Through a partnership with a university in Japan, he and a fellow computer science student spent a week participating in an international drone programming workshop, then stayed an extra week to explore.

Closer to home, he spent a summer engaged in undergraduate research under Niichel, applying machine learning to a question about student academic behavior. The results were modest by his own account, but the experience was not. 

“It was much more challenging than I expected,” he said. “But I felt proud of doing that work.”

That research also opened a door he didn’t see coming. Niichel connected him with a leadership figure at a prominent federal research facility, a conversation that eventually led to an internship, and from there to where he is today, building a career in a technical field he finds genuinely exciting.

“My connections with my professors at Fairmont State made pivoting into a career very manageable,” he said. Maset graduated without student loan debt. Scholarship support made that possible, and he doesn’t take it lightly.

“I applaud anybody that is giving money to someone in need,” he said. “And for education specifically, I further applaud donors who still put education on a pedestal.”

Looking back, Maset distills four years of experiences, discoveries, and hard-won growth into a single piece of advice for the students just now beginning their own Fairmont State journeys.

“Have a growth mindset,” he said. “See a learning opportunity in every single thing that you do. That’s what kept me sane through the challenges, and I think it’ll get you far not just academically, but professionally, and personally, too.”

Molli Taylor can still tell you her third-grade teacher’s name. Amy Merrill. She can tell you without hesitation that Mrs. Merrill is a big part of why she is sitting in the education program at Fairmont State University today. “She was definitely a big role model,” Molli said. “I really want to be like her and be a good teacher.”

Growing up as the daughter of a military officer, Molli had mapped out an ambitious future – medicine, law, perhaps a career in uniform like her father. But when a scholarship application stopped her in her tracks, something clicked.
 
“I applied for a scholarship for future educators, and when I got it, I was like, this is my calling,” said the Fairmont native, who is finishing her first year in the education program. “This is what I’m supposed to do.”
 
Looking back, the signs had been there all along. She had spent summers working with children at church camps, planning activities, leading groups, pouring energy into the kids around her. Her mother had noticed. “My mom was like, ‘Molli, you know…’” she recalled, laughing. “And I was like, oh, wow. I could be a great teacher.”
 
Now pursuing a K-12 Special Education certification, with a secondary interest in teaching second or third grade general education, Molli has her sights set on having precisely that kind of lasting impact on the students she will one day call her own. “I just want them to love learning,” she said simply.

Molli chose Fairmont State deliberately, drawn by the strength of its education program and, equally, by its sense of community. “I love the small community,” she said. “I know that education is a big program here, so I was like, I absolutely need to go here if I’m going to be a teacher. I fell in love with it.”

Scholarship support has shaped that experience in meaningful ways. As a recipient of scholarship support, Molli has been able to focus on her studies and campus involvement without the financial weight that accompanies so many college journeys. She works, but for spending money, not tuition. “It’s more money that I can put toward grad school,” she said. “It definitely helps a lot.”

Her ambitions don’t stop at a bachelor’s degree. Molli is already planning a master’s degree in special education, and she is enjoying something a bit more adventurous along the way. As a member of Fairmont State’s Honors Program, she recently traveled to Rome on a program trip supported in part by donor generosity. It was her first time outside the United States.

“I never imagined it being that huge,” she said of the Colosseum, still marveling at the memory. “I knew it was big, but not truly that huge until I was actually there.”

The Honors Program has been more than a passport stamp. Molli describes it as a genuine community, with engaged advisors, service opportunities, and a cohort of students who push one another. The coursework is more rigorous, she acknowledges, but the investment feels right. “It’s a really good program to get involved with,” she said.

On campus, Molli leads a women’s Christian ministry called Delight, which meets weekly and draws about 20 students. She also participates in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry on Tuesday evenings. This summer, she will develop and teach a full curriculum at her church’s youth camp, her first time building lessons from scratch, while also taking two online courses and planning a trip to see family on the west coast.

It is a full life, built deliberately, and she is grateful for the donors who have helped make it possible. When asked what she would say to those who funded her scholarship, she didn’t hesitate.

“I would say, thank you so much for investing in me,” she said. She noted that her scholarship honors an educator’s legacy, and that the connection feels personal. 

There is something quietly full-circle about that. A scholarship established in memory of an educator, now carrying a future educator forward, one classroom, one student, one moment of belonging at a time.

Supporting Fairmont State was a natural choice. The couple grew up in West Virginia near Fairmont, and Kim is a proud Fairmont State graduate. “Go Falcons!” she added enthusiastically. The university played a pivotal role in shaping her confidence and sense of possibility. Once a shy student from a small West Virginia town, she recalls how being accepted into Fairmont State’s nursing program changed her life trajectory. “I learned that I could dream big and actually achieve it,” she said.

That belief carried her far beyond the classroom. Kim went on to serve as a neonatal ICU nurse, flying in helicopters across North and South Carolina to transport critically ill premature infants for specialized care. The experience cemented her passion for her profession and underscored the profound impact skilled, compassionate nurses can have on families during their most vulnerable moments.

Although their careers and lives took them out of state, the Toothmans remain deeply connected to West Virginia. “We will always be West Virginians first and foremost,” the Toothmans shared. That enduring pride informs their hope that scholarship recipients will not only find joy and fulfillment in nursing but will also consider building their careers in West Virginia, strengthening healthcare across the state.

“We are deeply grateful to Dr. and Mrs. Toothman for their extraordinary generosity,” said Fairmont State University President Mike Davis, “Their gift will help prepare skilled, compassionate nurses who are essential to the health and well-being of our communities. The impact of this scholarship will extend far beyond our campus, strengthening healthcare in West Virginia and wherever our graduates serve.”

The Toothmans’ commitment to nursing is also deeply personal. Their daughter Taylor was born prematurely at just 27 weeks, weighing only 2 pounds, half an ounce, into the very NICU where Kim worked. Thanks to exceptional care, she not only survived but thrived. Today, Taylor is a dentist and orthodontist. “Yes, a dentist named Toothman!” her parents joked. The experience reinforced the life-changing power of compassionate, well-trained healthcare professionals.

To nursing students and recipients of the Kimberly Lannan Toothman Endowed Nursing Scholarship, Kim offers heartfelt encouragement: “Though grades are very important, they are not the sole determinant of the type of nurse you will be. Compassion and enthusiasm are not graded. Skills will improve with practice as long as there is a will to be an excellent nurse. Don’t give up – always move forward.”

​Through this endowed scholarship, the Toothmans are investing in more than education. They are creating a lasting legacy of care, resilience, and opportunity – one that will empower Fairmont State nursing students to dream big, serve boldly, and make a difference for generations to come.

That belief was tested almost immediately. In his first English course, Dr. Anderson confidently answered a question – and was wrong. Professor Haddon Rhodes walked to the window, mimed tossing something outside, and told him, “Mr. Anderson, there was your A, right out the window.” It was 8 o’clock in the morning on his first day of class, and the lesson was unforgettable. Fairmont State, though smaller in size, demanded excellence.

“That woke me up,” Dr. Anderson recalls. “You think a smaller school will be easier. It isn’t. It’s rigorous, and it prepares you.”

That preparation proved impactful. As a chemistry major, Dr. Anderson found mentors at Fairmont State who shaped his future, including Professor Elizabeth Swiger. His time on campus did more than teach him chemistry; it taught him discipline, confidence, and the expectation that learning is earned through effort.

After graduating, Dr. Anderson moved on to the University of Pittsburgh, initially planning to earn a master’s degree and quickly enter the workforce. Another wake-up call followed, and another pivotal choice. Learning that a master’s degree would take longer than he expected, he opted instead to pursue a PhD. It was a decision rooted in the foundation Fairmont State had already helped him to form – persistence, ambition, and respect for education.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Anderson worked for multiple companies as a polymer chemist, product developer, and leader in friction materials. His work took him around the world, including years living and working in France. Later, he added an executive master’s degree in business, further reinforcing his belief that education is a lifelong endeavor.

“Education is everything,” he says. “Not just university education, but learning on the job, learning through experience, learning throughout your life.”

It is this philosophy that inspired Dr. Anderson to provide a gift of $25,000 to create a scholarship at Fairmont State University. The John Norton Anderson (Class of 1959) Endowed Scholarship will be available to students who have graduated from North Marion High School and intend to pursue a degree program within the College of Science & Technology.

The reason for the scholarship is deeply personal. Fairmont State was available when he needed it most, and that access opened the door to everything that followed.

“Dr. Anderson’s generosity reflects a deep understanding of what access to education can make possible,” said Marissa Mauro, Interim President of the Fairmont State Foundation. “His investment is not only financial – it is a vote of confidence in our students and in the life-changing power of a Fairmont State education. Because of donors like Dr. Anderson, our students are able to focus on learning, discovery, and growth, knowing that someone believes in their potential.”

Dr. Anderson’s scholarship emphasizes the pursuit of science and technology pathways, not because every student must follow his path, but because he believes strongly in the value of scientific education as a gateway to opportunity. More importantly, he hopes recipients understand that Fairmont State is a beginning, not an end.

“Fairmont State University is a regional driver when it comes to providing accessible education, and Dr. Anderson’s story is a powerful reminder of what access to education can achieve,” said Fairmont State University President Mike Davis. “This is more than a scholarship – it’s an opportunity for students to transform their lives. His generosity ensures that students who share his determination will have the same chance to begin a journey of learning and discovery. We are deeply grateful for his commitment to opening doors for future generations."

His commitment to giving back is grounded in gratitude and perspective. As a student, his total cost of attending Fairmont State was about $500, an investment that yielded a lifetime of return. He remembers hitchhiking to class, relying on neighbors for rides, and being supported in countless small ways by people who believed his education mattered.

“That support made all the difference,” he says. “If you see a kid standing on the corner with a book, pick them up. Support students however you can.”

Now retired, Dr. Anderson sees his philanthropy as both a responsibility and an opportunity – to honor the mentors, neighbors, and institutions that shaped his life, including Norton Pearson, the neighbor whose encouragement led him to Fairmont State and whose name he proudly carries as his own.

For fellow donors and those considering a gift, Dr. Anderson’s message is simple and sincere: education changes lives. Sometimes it begins with a scholarship. Sometimes with a professor who demands more. Always with someone willing to give.

​For Dr. Anderson, Fairmont State University was the place that made everything else possible. Through its access, rigor, and belief in a determined young student, the University opened doors that led to a lifetime of achievement and discovery. Today, his generosity ensures that same opportunity will be available to students who, like he once did, simply need a place to begin.