Looking Forward
Scholarship Support Helped Trey Webster Pursue Public Service, Turning Ambition into Action
Some of Trey Webster’s most impactful childhood memories involve sitting around the dinner table, talking politics with his family.
They didn’t always agree, but Webster said those conversations were constructive and encouraged him to become politically aware at a young age.
“I was always taught that it was important to be politically active,” he said.
At UM, that interest in public service led Webster to major in political science, with an emphasis on the economy, tax policy and active labor markets. As an upperclassman, he was awarded the James A. Messina Scholarship, given annually to students interested in government, public administration and electoral politics.
In May, he became the first person in his immediate family to graduate from college.
“The scholarship made it possible for me to be more active on campus and in the broader Missoula community,” Webster said, “in part because it closed a significant financial gap.”
Donors to the UM Foundation continue to make student support a top priority in their giving, as one of the most powerful ways to expand access and opportunity at UM. In academic year 2024-25, more than 20% of students received a privately funded scholarship, and donors contributed $14 million to scholarships and graduate fellowships.
At UM, scholarships empower students to focus on their academic journeys, stay on track toward graduation and prepare for careers and lives of purpose.
While at UM, Webster was able to gain real-world experience through internships with organizations like MontPIRG and Montana Conservation Voters. He said the Messina Scholarship helped him pursue additional opportunities, including a summer internship with the Montana Nonprofit Association through the Max Baucus Institute as a Baucus Fellow.
“I think it has expanded my idea of what's possible for me ...,” he said. “As a first-generation college student, it was never really an expectation that I'd even go to college. Now, I'm preparing to go to graduate school.”
Together, the UM Foundation giving community transforms lives through scholarships, graduate fellowships and other forms of giving, helping the University provide essential support to thousands of students and opening doors of opportunity that extend far beyond campus.
“What keeps me going,” Webster said, “is a belief that a better world is possible.”