UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences recently created the Juan Garcia Educational Equity Scholarship in honor of Penn State student Juan Garcia, who died June 30 of respiratory failure and COVID-19.
Garcia, a 21-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, was majoring in energy business and finance with a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation.
The Juan Garcia Educational Equity Scholarship in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences is open to all undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll on at least a part-time basis in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, who have a demonstrated financial need, and whose gender, ethnic, cultural and/or national background contribute to the diversity of the student body.
The college created the scholarship as part of the University’s current fundraising campaign, “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” and its recently concluded Educational Equity Matching Program, which provided a 1:1 match for the original contribution made by the college to the principal account of this fund. Additional contributions to this endowment may be made by interested persons or organizations.
Garcia said his passion had always been business and to know how to run a business. He did some research on careers in business and said he found out that you could also do business in the energy field, and that is why he chose his major. After graduation, he had planned on pursuing a master’s degree in international affairs.
He was very appreciative of receiving the college’s Mary and Anthony Feidorek Trustee Scholarship and said it lightened his financial burden and allowed him to focus on school.
“Juan was a valued member of our college, a friend and classmate to so many at Penn State,” said Lee Kump, John Leone Dean in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. “He was following a challenging course of study leading to one of our most marketable degrees in energy business and finance. He would have had a long career guiding the transition of energy use from fossil to renewable.”
Increasing the diversity of its student body is a top priority for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. In addition to the Juan Garcia Educational Equity Scholarship, the college recently created the 125th Anniversary Educational Equity Scholarship in commemoration of the college’s 125th anniversary in 2021. The original gift to this fund also received a 1:1 match from the University’s Educational Equity Matching Program, and the scholarship is open to both undergraduate and graduate students who meet the same criteria. The total impact of both gifts is $600,000.
These scholarships will 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 21st-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 serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.