7.18.24

Transformational estate gift will benefit first-generation students at Wichita State

Ed and Marla ’71/86 Flentje have designated a transformational estate gift to create the Flentje Scholarship Fund at Wichita State University. The gift will support first-generation students with financial needs to seek degrees in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

Ed and Marla have been lifelong advocates of education, and both have pursued careers in in which they aimed to inspire the same passion in others. They believe young people who aspire to a college education should have that opportunity and hope this scholarship will help open the door for deserving students.

They are establishing this scholarship in memory of their parents, Augusta Flentje and Paul McManis, who encouraged their pursuit of higher education. Both Ed and Marla were the first in their immediate families to complete undergraduate degrees and  believe their educations built a solid foundation for their careers and lives.

Ed’s mother, Augusta Flentje, was the daughter of Czech immigrants and encouraged her three children to seek college educations. After her husband passed away, she pursued her own degree, graduated magna cum laude, and taught elementary school until her retirement.

Marla’s father, Paul McManis, spoke in ways that assumed she would attend and excel in her college studies. He was the only sibling in his large family to attend college, but was forced to drop out during the depression to help with the family farm. He never lost his yearning to continue his education, even enrolling in evening classes at Wichita State while working full time at Boeing. The image of him studying late at night is one of Marla’s cherished memories.

Ed and Marla both have strong ties to Wichita State University.

In 1979, Ed joined the faculty of the Center for Urban Studies, which evolved into the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs at the University, and taught in the field of public administration for 35 years. He has authored and edited numerous books and articles on governance and public policy, most recently coauthoring Reform and Reaction: The Arc of Kansas Politics. He retired from Wichita State in 2014 and continues to support the university as professor emeritus.

Ed served as director of the Hugo Wall School from 1999 to 2008. He also served in cabinet positions with Kansas governors Robert Bennett and Mike Hayden, and later as interim city manager for the City of Wichita and interim president of Emporia State University.

Marla has been a Shocker from the beginning, earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university and later serving as an associate director of the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs. In addition to her time at Wichita State, Marla’s 35-year career has involved education and leadership development in professional management for those serving in local government. She served as director of education for the Kansas Association of Counties for seven years, and since 2006, has worked as senior consultant with The Austin Peters Group, advising social sector clients on executive recruitment and human resource management.