Colorado and West Michigan Chapters create scholarships at McPherson College

Two POCI Chapters support the Automotive Restoration program at McPherson College by creating and funding scholarships.

McPherson College located in the small town of McPherson, Kansas is the only college in America that offers a 4-year bachelor’s degree in automotive restoration. The Automotive Restoration Technology Program at McPherson College was established in 1976 through the generosity and foresight of local entrepreneur Gaines H. “Smokey” Billue. His gift of over 125 classic and antique cars provided initial funds for the program. Mr. Billue, the Templeton family and others contributed toward the construction of Templeton Hall, which continues to serve as the home to the world-renowned program.

In 1997 this unique automotive restoration program attracted the attention of classic car enthusiast Jay Leno who established the Fred S. Duesenberg Scholarship and the Jay Leno Popular Mechanics scholarship. Both scholarships continue to provide financial assistance to students interested in studying classic automotive restoration. His involvement raised awareness of the program in the car collector community.

Now, with industry connections spanning the country and internship opportunities in a broad range of automotive settings, McPherson College stands alone as the first and only school to provide a bachelor’s degree in Restoration Technology.

At the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance McPherson College entered a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 S completely restored by students. The decade long project resulted in a historic 2nd in class podium spot.

Colorado Chapter

Francis Abate, President of the Colorado Chapter, is a graduate of the program at McPherson College. Being one of the college students who worked on the award winning Mercedes 300 S, he knows firsthand the benefits the college offers to young people looking to have a successful career in the automotive restoration industry. He will remind you though that it's not just a program for young people, he himself is someone who benefitted from the program after deciding to choose a different career path later in life. Francis now has a rewarding career in the automotive trim industry. Inspired by his story, the Colorado Chapter (without any coaxing from Francis) decided that they wanted to get involved with what the college is doing so they created a $500 Scholarship that is awarded each term for a one year period.

West Michigan Chapter

The West Michigan Chapter was first made aware of McPherson College by their President, Scott van Tamelen. Scott states he has known about the college's restoration program for quite some time, but cannot recall how or when he first discovered it. He has always had a desire to get the club involved with the program in some way. "How can a car club whose members drive restored vehicles, of some sort, not get excited about a college that promotes the continuation of those skill sets?" he asks.

This year when the chapter was taking recommendations for its annual Christmas party charity, the idea came up to support a scholarship at McPherson College. After trying a couple different avenues to establish the scholarship, they learned about what the Colorado Chapter was doing. A phone conversation was arranged with the Colorado Chapter where they gained the exact knowledge they needed. From there, members of the West Michigan Chapter decided the best approach was to establish its own scholarship with the college. The West Michigan Chapter has agreed to provide a $500 annual scholarship for the next 3 years.

If you're not aware of what is happening at McPherson College and its Automotive Restoration program, we encourage you to watch the videos below or follow one of the links above and to do some research. Who knows, maybe you too will want to get involved. Maybe with enough interest and support POCI could even get involved on a national level. It's definitely one of the best ways of making sure our beloved automotive hobby stays alive.

Click the photo below to watch the CBS segment on "Restoring classic cars in the classroom"