{"id":41500,"date":"2025-04-29T22:09:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T03:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=41500"},"modified":"2025-04-29T22:09:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T03:09:28","slug":"a-shared-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"A shared investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities that shaped her career<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Arne and Beverly Brekke passed on the UND legacy to their children, all UND graduates. From left to right in this photo from circa 1972, the children are: Karla Marchell, Karen Brekke, Kristian Brekke and Kari Brekke. Including in-laws, the family holds nine UND degrees. Photo courtesy of Brekke family and UND Alumni Association & Foundation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0<\/strong>In the\u00a0UND LEADS Strategic Plan<\/a><\/strong>, the Equity<\/strong><\/a> core value calls on the University to \u201creduce barriers to higher education by increasing affordability through scholarships, need-based aid and Open Educational Resources.\u201d This story reports on a UND alumna who, following her parents\u2019 lead, has decided to give back \u2014 via scholarship opportunities \u2014 to the University from which, she says, she gained much. <\/em><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared on the website<\/strong><\/a> of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.<\/i><\/p>\n

####<\/p>\n

By Jenn Lukens<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Dr. Karen (Brekke) Hoelzer Vilcinskas, \u201976, education wasn\u2019t just a stepping stone. It was her family\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

As a child, Karen spent hours exploring Merrifield Hall, where her father, Dr. Arne Brekke, an immigrant from Norway, taught languages and started an endowment to help build what is now known as the Arne G. Brekke Bygdebok Collection at UND. The collection is among the world\u2019s largest repositories of Norwegian genealogical books and artifacts.<\/p>\n

Karen\u2019s mother, Dr. Beverly Wade Brekke-Bailey, \u201967, \u201971, earned advanced degrees at UND and became a special education professor. She established her own endowment that funds scholarships for special education teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents both wanted to make a difference and help future generations through teaching and giving. They were great role models for me,\u201d Karen said.<\/p>\n

With UND as the clear option, Karen got a solid foundation in math and science, graduated with a double major at age 19, and was accepted into medical school at St. Louis University (SLU). For more than 30 years, Karen practiced oncology and was a partner at Springfield Clinic in Illinois before retiring in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cUND and SLU were instrumental in preparing me for my career,\u201d she noted. \u201cI am very grateful for the education I received at both institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Motivated by gratitude and retirement planning, Karen took advantage of a Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT), a savvy investment model that allows the grantor to support multiple charities after passing and generating income while living.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy financial advisor suggested a CRUT to manage a significant capital gain I received from my investment in Springfield Clinic,\u201d Karen explained. \u201cThrough a CRUT, I could minimize taxes, receive income and ultimately benefit the institutions that helped shape me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Now retired, Karen enjoys traveling with her husband of three years, Alex Vilcinskas. The couple lives in Texas but made a trip to Barcelona, Spain, last fall. Photo courtesy of of Karen Hoelzer Vilcinskas and the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Karen designated 90% of the CRUT\u2019s remainder to split between UND and SLU after her passing, with UND\u2019s portion supporting student scholarships.<\/p>\n

For years, Karen donated to her parents\u2019 endowments that fund the causes they championed. Now, she is championing her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to pay it forward while strengthening UND\u2019s financial future,\u201d Karen explained. \u201cIt gives me great joy to know these funds will ease the financial burden for future students.\u201d<\/p>\n

>>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Questions or comments\u00a0<\/strong>about the\u00a0UND LEADS Strategic Plan<\/a>?<\/strong>\u00a0Your thoughts are welcome! Please contact\u00a0Mike Wozniak<\/a><\/strong>, coordinator of Leadership & Programming, and\/or\u00a0Ryan Zerr<\/a><\/strong>, associate vice president for Strategy & Implementation, the co-chairs of the UND LEADS Implementation Committee. You also may offer your thoughts by visiting the\u00a0UND LEADS Strategic Plan home page<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and clicking on the \u201cProvide your feedback\u201d link.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your support of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan!<\/p>\n

About the author:<\/h2>\n
\"Jenn
Jenn Lukens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jenn Lukens is director of Stewardship & Donor Appreciation for the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EQUITY strategic priority: \u2018Reduce barriers to higher education by increasing affordability through scholarships, need-based aid\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":41501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38,1124],"class_list":["post-41500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-und","tag-alumni-association-foundation","tag-equity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA shared investment - UND Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities - UND and St. Louis University - that shaped her career\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A shared investment - UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities - UND and St. Louis University - that shaped her career\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-30T03:09:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\"},\"headline\":\"A shared investment\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-30T03:09:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":668,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alumni Association & Foundation\",\"Equity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Around UND\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/\",\"name\":\"A shared investment - UND Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-30T03:09:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\"},\"description\":\"Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities - UND and St. Louis University - that shaped her career\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"Arne and Beverly Brekke passed on the UND legacy to their children, all UND graduates. From left to right in this photo from circa 1972, they are: Karla Marchell, Karen Brekke, Kristian Brekke and Kari Brekke. Including in-laws, the family holds nine UND degrees. Photo courtesy of Brekke family and UND Alumni Association & Foundation.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/a-shared-investment\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A shared investment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"description\":\"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"UND Today\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/author\\\/und-today\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A shared investment - UND Today","description":"Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities - UND and St. Louis University - that shaped her career","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A shared investment - UND Today","og_description":"Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities - UND and St. Louis University - that shaped her career","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/","og_site_name":"UND Today","article_published_time":"2025-04-30T03:09:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"UND Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"UND Today","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/"},"author":{"name":"UND Today","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00"},"headline":"A shared investment","datePublished":"2025-04-30T03:09:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/"},"wordCount":668,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg","keywords":["Alumni Association & Foundation","Equity"],"articleSection":["Around UND"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/","name":"A shared investment - UND Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-30T03:09:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00"},"description":"Alumna splits legacy gift to benefit two universities - UND and St. Louis University - that shaped her career","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/Karen-Hoelzer-Vilcinskas-Family.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"Arne and Beverly Brekke passed on the UND legacy to their children, all UND graduates. From left to right in this photo from circa 1972, they are: Karla Marchell, Karen Brekke, Kristian Brekke and Kari Brekke. Including in-laws, the family holds nine UND degrees. Photo courtesy of Brekke family and UND Alumni Association & Foundation."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/04\/a-shared-investment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A shared investment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/","name":"UND Today","description":"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00","name":"UND Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"UND Today"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/author\/und-today\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41500"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41512,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41500\/revisions\/41512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}