Whitworth University has received a transformative $1.5 million gift from the Roy and Bess Mullet Fund and Paul Mullet to endow the George F. Whitworth Honors Program, supporting student research opportunities.

Whitworth Provost & Executive Vice President John Pell calls the gift a significant and visionary investment. “This endowment will expand our ability to support rigorous, humanities-based undergraduate research while furthering Whitworth’s mission to educate both mind and heart,” Pell says. “It will enrich the academic experience of our students and extend the reach of our distinctive approach to Christian higher education.”

Investing in students and education reflects the philanthropic values of Roy and Bess Mullet. The pair was known for supporting individuals rather than particular causes. Grounded in their Mennonite faith, Roy and Bess helped empower people to use their God-given gifts to transform the world and taught their five sons to do the same. When their son Paul witnessed the incredible experience his daughter, Melinda ’25, had while attending Whitworth, he saw an opportunity to do what his parents had taught him: empower young people to “honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity.”

“The Whitworth Honors Program invites students from across the university to participate in high-impact educational experiences that draw on the enduring traditions of the liberal arts to address the evolving and emerging challenges of the 21st century,” says Bert Emerson, co-director of the honors program and professor of English. “This gift will facilitate even more opportunities for students, especially those looking to emphasize humanistic inquiry as a key component in their problem-solving endeavors. It ensures future students will have the same transformative opportunities Melinda did during her time in the honors program.”

The Honors Program Humanities Endowment, while broadly supporting the honors program, will place special emphasis on expanding the innovative Democracy Lab – a key component of the program that adapts STEM and social science research practices to undergraduate, humanities-based projects with a focus on civic engagement and real-world professional experience.