The PNC Foundation has presented Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with a $250,000 pledge to establish the PNC Leadership Scholarship. This scholarship fund supports For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, the University's current capital campaign.
"PNC and Penn State share a vision for supporting the education and leadership skills of our future leaders, and through this grant from the PNC Foundation, we are affirming our common goal," said Marlene Mosco, president of PNC, Northwest Pennsylvania Region. "In 2010, scholarships awarded through the Leadership Academy will support more than 60 Penn State Behrend students -- many of them first-generation -- to attend college and gain valuable leadership experiences. We are proud of our partnership with Penn State and especially proud to be helping these local students achieve their dreams."
The PNC Leadership Scholarship will provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding undergraduate students at Penn State Behrend who demonstrate leadership abilities and assume leadership roles within student clubs and organizations. Any full-time student is eligible to apply.
"Those students who assume leadership roles in college gain experience that can be applied after graduation. However, over the years, we've seen a greater number of students who have had to work at paying jobs in addition to going to class, which sometimes means that students literally cannot afford to take on these key roles," Ken Miller, senior director of Student Affairs, said. "Thanks to the PNC Foundation's investment, we can alleviate some of the financial burden for today's students while building tomorrow's leaders."
Penn State Behrend has 110 clubs and organizations, led by more than 400 student officers. Annually, Student Affairs hosts a Leadership Academy, which includes a weekend of workshops on topics such as creating a budget, effective communication, team building and engaging alumni. Recipients of the PNC Leadership Scholarship will be expected to attend this off-campus seminar.
With the new PNC Leadership Scholarship, Penn State Behrend now offers 13 leadership-based scholarships, the first of which was created by the late Arloween Zurn Todd of Erie in 1994.
"It's a testament to the forward-thinking nature of our donors to have 13 separate scholarships focused on leadership development," Miller added. "The college and our supporters have long recognized the value of supporting students who volunteer their time and talents within leadership positions."
During the For the Future campaign, Penn State Behrend's goal is to raise $32 million to support its students and has secured nearly $21 million to date. The college's scholarship goal is $7.5 million; nearly $2.6 million has been raised for scholarships.
Penn State entered the public phase of the campaign in April, and has raised more than $1 billion University-wide. For the Future is the largest campaign in University history, with a goal to raise $2 billion by 2014.