WCU Stories      December 16, 2024

By Bill Studenc

Two scholarship funds established by a Western Carolina University alumnus who grew up the son of Sylva’s first full-time optometrist before embarking upon his own distinguished medical career have supported scores of WCU students majoring in preprofessional health programs and participating in marching band.

Keith Ramsey, a 1973 WCU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology, said those two distinct subject areas – health and music – reflect personal passions of his parents, for whom the scholarships are named.

The Dr. Donald M. Ramsey Scholarship Fund was established in 1993 by Ramsey and his mother, Edith Margaret “Meg” Ramsey, to honor his father. The elder Ramsey overcame childhood vision impairments and temporary paralysis from injuries suffered while serving in World War II to become a successful optometrist.

The fund provides assistance to North Carolina students in WCU’s preprofessional health programs, including foundational study toward the medical, osteopathic, optometry, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary fields.

“My father passed away unexpectedly at age 65 from complications of a heart attack. Recalling my father treating WCU students and faculty with eye care, his support of athletics and his providing for my brother’s and my education at Western, I contacted my prior adviser, Dr. Paul Wright of the Department of Biology, to ask if we could establish a scholarship in my father’s name. He replied, ‘Yes, we can.’”

Upon his mother’s death, Ramsey and siblings Donald “Kim” Ramsey (a 1977 WCU graduate) and Lou Ellen Ramsey Hawk created the Edith Margaret “Meg” Ramsey Music Endowed Scholarship in 2010 for members of WCU’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band.

“My mother encouraged all of us to join the band at what was then Sylva-Webster High School because she had played piano and then bassoon in her high school band,” Ramsey said. “Bob Buckner was our band director at Sylva-Webster and then at Western when our mother passed away. I spoke with Bob, who knew her well, and he encouraged me to establish a scholarship fund for a deserving band member.”

In addition to the scholarship funds, Ramsey has made numerous gifts to other areas of the university over the years, with more than $44,000 in total lifetime giving. Providing philanthropic contributions to WCU means more than just supporting his alma mater, Ramsey said. It also reflects a lifelong connection to the institution.

“Growing up nearby in Sylva, I refer to myself as a ‘lifer’ at WCU,” he said. “My brother and I learned to swim at Breese Gym, and my family attended WCU football games in the old stadium. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to attend academic summer programs after fourth through sixth grades. We continued to attend concerts in Reid Gym, football games and marching band contests.”

That’s why, when it came time to go to college, Ramsey accepted his father’s recommendation of that university located just down N.C. Highway 107 from his hometown.

“I was looking at Western and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,” he said. “My father talked with me, telling me that he was likely going to provide me with eight years of education. He asked me to attend Western, with smaller classes, to help with the financial commitment. I said, ‘Yes, sir,’  and never looked back.”

While at WCU, Ramsey was involved in the marching band and the Student Supreme Court, and he served as president of Lambda Chi  Alpha fraternity. After graduating magna cum laude (with high honors), he earned his medical degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1977.

Ramsey said his undergraduate education at WCU prepared him well for medical school.

“My four years at Western were both fun and productive. I experienced a lot of growth, and I accomplished my goal of going to UNC-Chapel Hill,” he said. “The curriculum for prehealth care professional students at Western was rigorous, heavy on chemistry, biology and microbiology, and in smaller classes with all teachers with doctorates, unlike larger schools. Once at UNC-Chapel Hill, the volume of studies was heavier than at Western, but I was competitive with most of my classmates.”

After medical school, Ramsey launched a career specializing in infectious diseases. He completed his training at Virginia Commonwealth University, and earned faculty appointments at the universities of Texas and South Alabama. In Alabama, he conducted groundbreaking work on HIV and AIDS research and established one of the largest clinics on the Gulf Coast treating HIV patients.

Ramsey spent the last 18 years of his 40-year career in Greenville, where he resides, holding a variety of positions at East Carolina University. He retired in 2022 as medical director of infection control for the ECU Health Medical Center and left clinical practice at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine in 2023.

Ramsey served on the WCU Foundation Board of Directors from 2008 until 2017, and he is a member of WCU’s College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Council. He was the 2015 recipient of the WCU Alumni Association’s Academic Achievement Award.

Troutman resident Andrea Holguin is among the many who have benefited from Ramsey’s philanthropy as a recipient of the Dr. Donald M. Ramsey Scholarship. A 2024 WCU graduate in biology, Holguin is studying for the Medical College Admission Test in preparation for applying to medical school.

“The Ramsey Scholarship has had an immense impact on my educational trajectory,” she said. “It made it easier for me to focus on my grades and my classes and helped me graduate debt-free. Grades were an important thing for me because medical schools are so competitive. I am extremely thankful for this scholarship, which helped me focus on my classes and not how I will pay for them.”

Holquin said she plans to pursue a medical career and provide care to underserved communities, a goal made more obtainable through scholarship support.

“I felt honored to be a recipient of this award. It shows me that my work thus far has been noticed and appreciated. It helped me feel more confident that I am in the right field and that I can continue to work hard and serve my community,” she said.

“It was also great to see that a physician was investing in my future, which made me want to work harder for not only myself but for my community. I want to work in rural areas that need better access to health care and need a physician to advocate for their health. It was refreshing to see a physician doing this and helping students in a smaller school, which I hope to be able to do as well in the future,” Holquin said.

WCU is approaching the public launch of its “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign, an effort to raise support for the university’s academic, student engagement and athletics programs. For more information or to make a contribution, visit WesternSky.wcu.edu, call 828-227-7124 or email advancement@wcu.edu.