Ryan ’12 and Jaimie (Fike) Moore ’12 share their story and reasons for investing in Kentucky Wesleyan College.
“We give because we want others to have the same opportunities we had – to build lasting relationships, develop leadership skills, obtain a quality higher education, and to be welcomed into a sincere family at KWC. The college and its alumni are a special community, and we want others to benefit from being a part of it, too.”
Jaimie, English major, worked part-time at Girls Inc. in college and took a full-time position there upon graduation. In 2018, Jaimie returned to KWC as the director of advancement services and was recently promoted to senior director of design and database.
Ryan, an accounting major, was an intern at a public accounting firm for three years during school and continued that work full-time after graduation. He became a CPA in January 2015. During his career, he has worked at two different regional CPA firms located in Owensboro, and he now works remotely as a tax manager for Wilkin Guttenplan, a CPA firm with offices in East Brunswick, N.J., and New York City.
Jaimie did not originally plan to attend KWC because she desired to have the experience of “going away to college” but was awarded substantial scholarships to attend Wesleyan. She was grateful to be able to live on campus and have the “away from home” experience while being 20 minutes from home.
Ryan desired two things in a college: 1) small class sizes to be able to have direct access and meaningful relationships with his professors and 2) a college close to home so he could be near family and stay heavily involved at his local church. He found exactly what he wanted at KWC, and he was able to attend, thanks in large part to the James Graham Brown scholarship he was awarded.
The most important mentor Ryan had at KWC was Professor Raju Chenna. Professor Chenna not only directly taught Ryan in many of his business and accounting classes but also encouraged him to pursue meaningful internship opportunities while also pushing him to meet the 150-hour education requirement to sit for the CPA exam, all within his four-year undergraduate studies. He also mentored Ryan on the best options for post-graduation success in both his career and further education endeavors.
Though Ryan was a commuter student most of his time at KWC, he voluntarily stayed on campus his sophomore year, the most enjoyable year of his college career. The most fun times he had on campus were being Jaimie’s “plus one” at Kappa Delta events like formal dances.
Jaimie is grateful for the leadership and career opportunities she was able to gain from being a student at KWC. She held multiple VP positions in Kappa Delta and served on SGA for three years. She received her part-time job in college due to her volunteer experience through Kappa Delta, which led to her full-time job and ultimately her career in non-profit fundraising.
Ryan and Jaimie met the weekend before freshman year (2008) started, along with several other incoming freshmen who intentionally gathered and made connections before classes began. However, Ryan and Jaimie’s first date was not until March 2009 where they enjoyed dinner together at Cheddars after Ryan finally asked Jaimie out.
By staying local during their college years., they were able to be an integral part of the ministries of their local church (Hall Street Baptist Church) through their time at KWC. They also have two beautiful children, Micah (8) and Rosalie (6).
“This marriage, our children and our ministry would not have been possible without KWC bringing us both together. We are beyond thankful and happy to continue to be part of the KWC family today!”