Fredy Madrid Jr. ’20 celebrated his 26th birthday on Feb. 13 by giving Wofford a gift.
Madrid pledged $25,000 to the college to establish the Fredy Madrid International Student Endowed Scholarship Fund. He is among the first to take advantage of a new program through the Office of Philanthropy + Engagement that allows alumni under age 40 to endow a scholarship with $25,000 instead of $50,000.
“I am a firm believer that to whom much is given, much is expected,” says Madrid. “The Bonner Scholarship changed my life. The Bonner Program showed me that the impossible can become possible. This scholarship is a way for me to pay forward all the gifts that I received through many years. It’s a way to show my community, my village, that I’m grateful.”
The presentation took place during a reception in the Papadopoulos Building in front of family, friends, faculty and staff. The scholarship will be awarded annually to an international student, with preference being given to Hispanic or Latino students.
“Fredy has done enormous good for this institution as a student leader, and now as a young alumni leader,” President Nayef Samhat said during the reception.
A native of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Madrid served as Campus Union president at Wofford before earning a B.A. in economics. He chose Wofford because he felt the college’s focus on student success gave him the greatest opportunity to excel.
“When I came to Wofford, I came on a leap of faith,” Madrid says. “But I came, and I worked hard, and it made me a better Fredy. This is a project I wanted to do so that people even better than me can come to Wofford.”
Madrid is an international business expansion partner at Gibbs International in Spartanburg. He met company founder and CEO Jimmy Gibbs, a Wofford benefactor and trustee, as a sophomore and began interning for the company as a junior.
“I was intrigued by his confidence and his desire to make things better,” Gibbs says. “He’s got quite a success story behind him. He’s done everything the hard way, the good way. I’m as fortunate that he came into my life as he is that I came into his.”