Montana State grant program aims to support students facing obstacles

BOZEMAN - When Anthony Hernandez arrived on the Montana State University campus in the fall of 2022, he felt a culture shock.

Originally from Lodge Grass in southeast Montana, Hernandez found a community at MSU where the student enrollment was larger than his home county. A member of the Crow Tribe, Hernandez came from a family immersed in education: his grandmother was his counselor at Lodge Grass High School, his grandfather the principal, his mother a faculty member at nearby Little Big Horn College. After becoming involved in FFA in high school, Hernandez said he was the first Native person to be elected to Montana FFA's state officer team. The experience fostered a passion for agricultural education, the degree he chose to pursue in MSU's College of Agriculture.

But moving from his small hometown to the state's largest higher education institution posed a major challenge for Hernandez.

"My first year was a little difficult because I was the only student from my graduating class to come here," he recalled. "I felt like I didn't really know anyone. It was isolating, but it really taught me how to use my resources and ask for help, which is so hard, especially in your first year."

He struggled with some of his classes and then, as he was preparing for MSU's powwow in 2025 as president of the university's American Indian Council, he received word that his grandmother, one of his most dedicated supporters and cheerleaders, had died. The weight of all those challenges led him to consider dropping out of school altogether. But a unique scholarship in MSU's Division of Student Success provided support to help Hernandez persist toward his degree.

The GRIT Grant Program allows members of the MSU community to nominate students who are within 45 credits of graduation and facing greater obstacles than some of their peers. Established in 2021, the scholarships aim to ease the burden posed by financial, mental or physical hardship. Hernandez was one of roughly 25 recipients of the grant earlier this semester. Preference is given to Montana resident students, and the scholarship is for $2,000 for future college expenses.

"Making the calls to the GRIT students every fall is one of the best parts of my job at MSU," said Matthew Caires, MSU's dean of students. "This program annually recognizes and supports students who have worked hard, overcome adversity and continue to make progress toward a degree. This is one way that MSU invests into these students, lets them know that we see them and that we expect them to continue their education. We recognize and support their grit."

The program is overseen by MSU's Division of Student Success and funded by donors, including MSU alum Mary Ann Pearce. A native of Butte who graduated from MSU in 1976 with a degree in chemical engineering, Pearce chartered the university's chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and continued to champion women in engineering throughout her career at ConocoPhillips. She was later a founding member of the Houston chapter of the MSU Alumni Foundation.

Emma Ferguson-Reiner grew up near Kalispell and, through a dual-enrollment program at Flathead Valley Community College, graduated high school with more than 60 college credits already completed, allowing her to enroll at MSU in 2023 near junior standing.

Now double majoring in chemical and biological engineering, Ferguson-Reiner has worked nearly full time for most of her time at MSU. Carrying that load, coupled with a diagnosis of ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - and severe health issues, she found herself stretched to a breaking point. In 2024, her cousin died after a drug overdose.

"I was relentlessly working, and I was just struggling to make ends meet, to the detriment of my mental health," Ferguson-Reiner said. "When you don't feel like your feet are underneath you, especially with money, it's paralyzing."

Thanks to the support of the GRIT Grant, she said she can refocus on her undergraduate research in the Center for Biofilm Engineering, take a step back from working so much and prioritize her mental health. She said campus resources like the Allen Yarnell Center for Student Success, Counseling and Psychological Services in the Student Wellness Center and the Office of Disability Services have been instrumental to helping her stay in school. She will begin her senior year this fall confident in the support around her.

"Somebody recognized that you're really trying your best and you're working hard and you have a lot of potential, and they wanted to give you an opportunity to pursue that more. That just made me feel really good about myself," she said of receiving funding through the GRIT Grant Program. "As an individual, I just want to try to be better every day for myself, and for the people I care about, and to be a successful student and prove to everyone who has chosen me or who has decided to have faith in me, you made a good choice."

For Clara Fox, who grew up in Bozeman, MSU was always the goal. A javelin thrower for MSU's track and field team, Fox is a junior in the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing. After two years of prerequisite coursework, she began her clinical rotations this year. Balancing two days each week embedded in schools and hospitals, plus sessions in MSU's nursing simulation labs, with the travel and training of the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, required careful planning and a lot of support, Fox said.

While javelin throwers only compete during the outdoor season, Fox trains five times a week during the indoor period, lifting and conditioning in addition to throwing two to three days each week. Because of her demanding academic schedule, she often trains alone with her coach.

"They work super hard to make my schedule work," she said of the Bobcat coaching staff. "There's so many people that are there to support, and whenever you need help, they're there. My instructors are super helpful, too. They made sure to schedule all my clinicals outside of the weekends I travel. They know what's going on, and they're super supportive of it all, which is awesome."

Fox said she was shocked to hear she had received the GRIT Grant when Caires called to inform her of her selection. Being a Bobcat and being a nurse were goals from which she'd never wavered, and having that commitment recognized was a meaningful validation.

"I was like, 'I don't know, they're not going to pick me.' I didn't think I was special enough to get a scholarship like this," Fox said. "It really shows that the university and the community we have here cares so much about the students. They care about how well I do, and they have so much support."

Once he graduates, Hernandez hopes to teach agricultural education either on his home reservation or in another tribal community. He is committed to Montana's Indian Education for All mandate and wants to develop lesson plans that teachers can use to incorporate Indigenous history and culture into their classrooms. His time at MSU and the support he has found have made that possible, he said.

When he first began participating in FFA as a middle school student, the public speaking competitions caused him to freeze. He was far too shy, he said, to speak in front of a group and put himself out there in that way. All that has changed, though.

"I was in a position where I had total imposter syndrome, because I didn't come from a direct ag background. Once I found that passion, it made me feel like I can belong, and I think that can be applied to anyone at MSU. There's a place for you to find your passion," he said. "I think that's the biggest thing keeping me in school, knowing that I could be an inspiration to others. The GRIT program reminded me that I deserve to be here. I've done everything it takes to be here, and it was really rewarding to get selected for this scholarship."

Nominations for the GRIT Grant Program open each fall semester. More information about can be found at http://montana.edu/studentsuccess/gritgrant/.