Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Wayne Meisel, President
Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation
10 Mercer Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
Tel: (609) 924-6663
Email: wmeisel@bonner.org
Website: www.bonner.org

BONNER FOUNDATION AWARDS $20 MILLION IN ENDOWMENT GIFTS TO FIVE COLLEGES FOR SERVICE-BASED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Princeton, NJ — June 14, 2004 — The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, which provides service-based scholarships to college students who dedicate themselves to community involvement, has awarded a total of $20.5 million in challenge endowment grants to be distributed to five colleges. The schools are: Berea College (Berea, KY), Guilford College (Greensboro, NC), Mars Hill College (Mars Hill, NC), Rhodes College (Memphis, TN), and Waynesburg College (Waynesburg, PA).

Collectively these campuses must raise matching endowment gifts totaling $9.3 million. Combined, these new endowments will support 300 students through the Bonner Scholars Program, a service-based scholarship program that has provided opportunities for thousands of students over the past 14 years on 25 college campuses.

The Bonner Foundation today also announced its plans to provide more endowment gifts to qualified colleges and universities currently participating in the Bonner Scholars Program that meet the endowment standards set forth by the Bonner Foundation Board of Trustees. A complete list of the colleges and universities that are current partners with the Bonner Scholars Program can be seen below.

“The success of the Bonner Scholars Program has defined the direction of the Bonner Foundation,” explains Wayne Meisel, president of the Bonner Foundation. “By endowing the programs at the schools but a relationship, the Foundation strengthens her partners without ending the partnership.”

Meisel further explained that “the decision to endow the Bonner Scholars program represented a commitment not just to the individual students in the program but to the campus and community as well. Our goal is to foster and strengthen an ongoing culture of service where everybody, everyday encounters the challenge and joy of service.”

Since 1991, the Bonner Scholars Program has provided students who have significant financial need an "access to education and an opportunity to serve." With Bonner Foundation support, every year more than 1,500 students at 25 different colleges each contribute ten hours of service a week during the school year and participate in a full-time, community service summer internship. Students participate in a rigorous four-year student developmental model that offers opportunity for personal transformation and professional growth. Students are expected to make significant commitments to grow as individuals, work collectively as a group, and to have a meaningful and lasting impact in the communities where they serve.

Since the inception of the program in 1990 more than 3,000 students have successfully completed the requirements of the Bonner Program and graduated from college.

The colleges and universities that participate in The Bonner Scholars Program were selected based on their financial support to low-income students, their engagement in the community, and their desire to work with a consortium of colleges and universities that share a common commitment to promote a culture of service on their campus.

Along with The Bonner Scholars Program, the Bonner Foundation has assisted an additional 50 colleges and universities that have recruit, train, and support approximately 1,000 Bonner Leaders Program who engage in community service in exchange for financial aid support. Although the Bonner Foundation does not provided direct funding to these institutions, the Foundation staff and other members of the Bonner community provide technical support and have nurtured a national network of campuses devoted to expanding the idea and practice of a service-based scholarship.

“Our hope,” stated Meisel, “is that other individuals and organizations support similar types of scholarship programs at schools across the country. The service based scholarship recognizes, engages, challenges and rewards students to serve in thoughtful, significant and meaningful ways. Merit scholarships have long been focused on academic and athletic achievement. The Bonner Foundation has established service based scholarships as the Third Merit Scholarship and made it a part of the landscape of higher education and American Culture.

When Mrs. Corella Allen Bonner, the widow of the Mr. Bertram F. Bonner, died nearly two years ago, the Board of Trustees undertook an independent and comprehensive review of the Bonner Foundation activities. During this process, dozens of college presidents as well as scores of program directors, faculty members, community leaders, and students were surveyed and interviewed as to the current impact and future direction of the Bonner Foundation.

Taking into consideration the results of this review and the commitment and desires of Mr. and Mrs. Bonner, the Bonner Foundation's Board approved criteria that each participating school must meet in order to be offered a Bonner Foundation endowment gift. These criteria focus on the academic and financial strength of an institution, the effectiveness of the Bonner Scholars Program on their campus, the institution's commitment to create and sustain a campus-wide culture of service, and their ability to provide a designated financial match.
All of the board members had a strong personal relationship with both Mr. and Mrs. Bonner. Kenneth F. Kunzman, Chair of the Bonner Foundation Board of Trustees explained, "The board's decision to embark on a strategy to endow all qualified Bonner Scholar Programs that meet the endowment standards, fulfills the long term desire of both Mr. and Mrs. Bonner to preserve, in perpetuity, the goals and activities of The Bonner Scholars Program."

In addition to its oversight of the Bonner Scholar and Bonner Leader Programs, the Bonner Foundation, based in Princeton, New Jersey, also supports local anti-hunger initiatives throughout the United States with a focus on New Jersey and the Appalachian region.

Participating Colleges & Universities

• Antioch College
• Berea College**
• Berry College*
• Carson-Newman College
• College of the Ozarks
• Concord College*
• Davidson College*
• DePauw University*
• Earlham College
• Emory & Henry College*
• Ferrum College
• Guilford College**
• Hood College
• Mars Hill College**
• Maryville College
• Morehouse College
• Oberlin College
• Rhodes College**
• Spelman College*
• Union College
• University of Richmond*
• Warren Wilson College
• Waynesburg College**
• West Virginia Wesleyan College
• Wofford College
  
  * previously received Bonner Scholar Program endowment gift
  ** being awarded Bonner Scholar Endowment gifts in this round

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