The gift of education

Ohio State Marion students show thanks to donors for helping finance their career aspirations

PICTURED ABOVE:  Ohio State Marion Dean’s Scholarship recipients pictured front row from left: senior Ashley Stratton of Sunbury, freshman Kailee Stover of Ostrander, and freshman Grace Belvedere of Worthington; back row from left: Associate Dean Bishun Pandey, freshman Brooke Griffith of Centerburg, freshman Lyndsay Burkley of Hilliard, and freshman Jessica Thompson of Bucyrus. Recipients of the Dean’s Scholarship receive a full-scholarship for all four years of their education, a sizeable book allowance each quarter, and a laptop computer. Dean's Scholarship recipients must plan to major in education, English, history, general business, or psychology at Ohio State Marion. Students chosen for the Dean’s Scholarship will have graduated in the top 10% of their high school class, or have a minimum ACT composite score of 27. The Dean's Scholarship is renewable for a total of four years, provided the student maintains full-time enrollment at the Marion campus and a 3.5 cumulative grade point average. Ohio State University at Marion.

As we approach the holiday giving season, a group of Ohio State students are learning firsthand the joys and rewards of giving from the very people who have helped finance their education and their future success.

The Ohio State University at Marion brought together student scholarship recipients and 36 donor representatives from 29 out of 45 Ohio State Marion endowed scholarship funds for the campus’s annual Scholarship Donor-Recipient Luncheon, Friday, December 3, 12 noon in Maynard Hall’s Guthery Community Room.

The purpose of the event is to celebrate those individuals who have shared their personal financial resources for the benefit of students at the university and to demonstrate how philanthropy deeply enhances the lives of individuals in the Marion campus’s seven-county service area, which includes: Crawford, Delaware, Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Union, and Wyandot Counties.

Dean’s Scholarship recipient Grace Belvedere, who was chosen to impart the student perspective to those attending the event, shared what her scholarship meant to her and her family, and that she hoped to be on the other side one day, giving rather than receiving.

Organizers of the annual luncheon request students write personal letters to the family, foundation, or organization that made their scholarship possible and share what the scholarship has meant to them in furthering their higher education.

Ohio State Marion Dean and Director Gregory S. Rose felt the luncheon was eye opening for many student scholars.

“The scholar luncheon is an opportunity to honor our donors, but it also emphasizes to students that there is a person, a family, or organization behind the scholarship,” said Rose

The idea of paying forward is something not lost on the recipients.

“We hope it will serve as something for our students to aspire to someday in the future,” he added.

While organizers began the tradition as a way to recognize university donors, the value of teaching humility, thanks, and the rewards of giving add an immeasurable value to the donor scholar relationship that is fostered each year.