DUBOIS – The DuBois Educational Foundation (DEF) is a front-runner in establishing one of the first Educational Equity Scholarships at Penn State DuBois.
With a $25,000 pledge, the new DuBois Educational Foundation Equity Scholarship will support diversity in the campus student population.
The University has made a one-time 1:1 match of this gift through its recently concluded Educational Equity Matching Program, resulting in a $50,000 endowment.
“Penn State’s land-grant mission—to reach all citizens of the Commonwealth through teaching, research, and service—can only be realized by remaining equitable and inclusive,” said Penn State DuBois Chancellor M. Scott McBride.
“At this pivotal moment in the country’s engagement with race and justice, the “We Are” spirit that has united the Penn State community for generations is finding new expression, and Penn State DuBois is grateful to the members of the DEF for helping to be a leader with this new scholarship.”
DEF board member and past president Craig Ball helped to establish this scholarship by working with the Penn State DuBois development team with a concern for the needs of the diverse student body.
He said, “We were interested in this effort because we really feel that, in our area of Pennsylvania, we need to work to make sure all people are included and have a chance to attend Penn State. This scholarship is something new and something different.
“This will help our student body to be more diverse, and it will thereby provide all students a more well-rounded education. When you have a diverse population, you learn from each other, you get a feel for what it’s like to be in the shoes of other people.
“You go to college and realize that not everyone is from where you came from, and you begin to see there is so much more you can learn just from interacting with others.”
The DEF is the advisory board for Penn State DuBois and is made up of business and community leaders who are invested in offering the best in higher education to individuals in Central Pennsylvania.
Established in 1944, the DEF has been instrumental in funding the construction of three campus buildings: the Patrick Swift Building, the Mary Smeal Building, and the DEF Workforce Development Building.
This gift helps to advance “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections.
With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a twenty-first-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship.
To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit http://greaterpennstate.psu.edu/
For more information on all giving at Penn State DuBois, contact Director of Development Jean Wolf, at 814-372-3038 or jaw57@psu.edu.
