FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, 304-696-7153
 

Marshall University’s Society of Yeager Scholars alumni
announce $75,000 greatest needs campaign

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University’s Society of Yeager Scholars alumni are announcing a $75,000 campaign to ensure the present and future quality and excellence of one of the nation’s premier honors scholarship programs in higher education.

The campaign will benefit the Society of Yeager Scholars program at Marshall University, which includes student scholarships, tuition, room and board, computers and study abroad.

The purpose of the “Now More Than Ever Campaign for Yeager Scholars” is illustrated by its title. The campaign will enable the program to build upon its reputation as a leading undergraduate university honors scholarship and continue to attract students who want to take full and creative advantage of the outstanding educational opportunities it offers.

A formal presentation and update is planned for Oct. 30 as part of the 24th annual Society of Yeager Scholars Symposium dinner, which will be held at Marshall University.  All Yeager Scholars alumni are invited to celebrate the campaign and articulate the long-range vision of educational distinction that the Yeager Scholars program offers.

“This campaign is about today. But it is even more so about tomorrow and the day after. We have to think long-term for the Society of Yeager Scholars at Marshall,” said Dr. Nicki LoCascio, interim director of the Yeager Scholars program at Marshall University.

To maintain and build the quality of the program, the comprehensive goal of the campaign is to broaden the quality and accessibility of the Society of Yeager Scholars experience with increases in the operating funds of $75,000.

“I am constantly impressed by the students who come to Marshall through the Society of Yeager Scholars,” LoCascio said. “Their talent, their curiosity, their motivations, their sense of teamwork, leadership and community are humbling. We want to continue to attract the most talented students based on their ability to do the work, not their ability to pay.”

A Society of Yeager Scholars education should be financially accessible to any qualified student, LoCascio said, adding that the campaign will strengthen the society’s ability to recruit “only the best” and brightest students, regardless of their financial circumstances.

“This campaign is about our commitment to quality,” said Sharron Shaffer, chairman of the development committee of the Yeager board, adding that a campaign involves more than fundraising. “It’s a way to reconnect our alumni with our program and Marshall University.”

The Society of Yeager Scholars at Marshall University was founded in 1987. Today there are more than 200 Yeager Scholars alumni living and working in more than 25 states and in foreign countries. A substantial majority have gone on to graduate studies.  They are leaders in many professional fields including medicine, law, business, finance and science, government, politics, military and religion and education.

For more information on the campaign, contact Bob Galardi, director of major gifts with the Society of Yeager Scholars, at 800-438-5395.

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