Area couple funding diversity course at UWSP

An area couple interested in increasing the diversity and understanding of other cultures in the community and the world are making a donation to televise an ethnic diversity course at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

John Noel, president of the Noel Group based in Stevens Point, and his wife, Patty, have offered $7,000 to help support "Ethnic Diversity in Wisconsin."

The donation will be used to broadcast parts of the class sessions on area cable access stations.

"One of our objectives," John said, "is to expand the discussion into the schools and community by putting this on television."

"If we want to make the campus more diversity friendly," said Patty, "we need to support these kinds of courses. Then when minorities come to campus, they will be welcomed."

Funding the project seemed logical, said the Noels, who are involved in many charitable works worldwide and have adopted four children of diverse backgrounds. They hope this is the first of many such programs sponsored by area residents or corporations.

"This is a nice way to get involved," said Patty. "There is the potential to help the university make an impact in the community."

Both alumni of UWSP, the couple currently supports four minority student scholarships at the university through the Noel Compass Foundation.

The couple also established the "Make a Mark" non-profit humanitarian project in 1993, which focuses on building clinics, schools and orphanages in developing countries. Last year the project contributed to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, adding buildings to the Nyumbani Orphanage in Kenya, a facility for AIDS infected babies. Past projects have included building a kindergarten schoolhouse in Croatia, building a wing onto a hospital in Rostov-Veliky, Russia and rebuilding the Pele Bridge in Dubrovnik.

The Noel Group operates several travel companies including Travel Guard International and Marathon Travel in downtown Stevens Point. The couple resides in Stevens Point and has six children.

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