A journey of exploration: how donor support opens minds

Standing in a long hallway inside the Vatican Museums, surrounded by centuries of global history, University of Alberta student Abigail Cullen felt a profound shift.

“I really started to think about museums as places of power,” says Cullen, a third-year honors history student. “That moment has carried forward into what I want to study and pursue.”

That semester — spent studying in Cortona, Italy — was made possible by the Marilyn R. Love Scholarship in History. While the Love family’s legacy includes the G. Donald Love Global Leadership Scholarship, which empowers students from all faculties to study abroad, the Marilyn R. Love scholarships are more specialized — designed specifically to champion the next generation of thinkers in history and philosophy.

For Cullen, a semester in Cortona was transformative. Immersed in the rhythm of a small Italian town, she wasn’t just a tourist; she was a scholar learning to see the world through a different lens.

“You don’t get a lot of opportunities to experience a place like that beyond being a tourist,” she says. “It was eye-opening in ways I didn’t expect.”

Now, she’s leveraging that international experience to pursue specialized research in museum studies and exploring graduate programs abroad — a trajectory set in motion by her time in Italy.

But the impact of the scholarship reaches beyond travel.

Cullen is one of many students supported this past year through the Love family’s scholarships, which fund honors history and philosophy as well as global learning opportunities. Since the fund’s creation in the early 1990s, it has supported 125 awards for 66 students — a testament to how one family’s vision creates a ripple effect across generations.

For Jeff Love, who represents the family, that long-term impact reflects a deeply held belief in the value of the humanities.

The scholarships were established in honour of his parents, Marilyn and G. Donald Love, whose passion for history and philosophy shaped the family’s giving. 

“History allows you to question the present,” Love says. “Philosophy allows you to question everything.”

In a world increasingly shaped by technology and efficiency, he sees the humanities as essential — a space for reflection, curiosity and independent thought.

“You can’t put a price on that kind of thinking,” he says.

By offering multi-year support, the scholarships aim to give students something just as valuable as funding: freedom.

“The idea is to give them room to breathe,” says Love, “so they can take risks, explore different ideas and feel supported in pursuing something that might not always be understood or valued.”

For Cullen, that support has been both practical and personal.

With four younger siblings also hoping to attend university, easing the financial burden has meant a great deal to her family. It has allowed her to focus more fully on her studies.

“It’s made a huge difference,” she says. “But beyond that, it’s knowing that someone believes in what you’re doing.”

That belief comes to life every year at a shared dinner where “Love Scholars” gather to exchange ideas.The event serves as a common thread for the family’s giving, weaving together history and philosophy scholars with travel award recipients from across the university. 

“You feel part of something bigger,” Cullen notes. “It’s a community of people who are all passionate about understanding our world.”

For Love, that sense of community is just as important as the financial support.

“We want students to feel valued — not just for what they achieve, but for who they are,” he says.

Back in Cortona, Cullen had another moment she’ll never forget — standing on a hilltop, an owl perched on her arm during a falconry lesson. 

As a child, she had been fascinated by owls — reading about them, collecting small figurines, carrying that curiosity with her for years. In that moment, in a place she never imagined she’d be, everything clicked.

“It felt like everything had come together,” she says. “My interests, my studies, being there in Italy — it was a full-circle moment.”

It’s a small memory, but one that reflects the broader impact of the Love family’s generosity — opening doors, expanding perspectives and helping students imagine new possibilities where they don’t just study history, but help shape how we understand it.

“I’m just really grateful,” Cullen says. “This experience changed how I see my future.”