Scholarship recipients and donors honored at luncheon

Pitt-Bradford honored scholarship recipients and donors at a luncheon held Friday in the Mukaiyama University Room.

The luncheon is an annual event in which donors and the recipients of their scholarship funds have a chance to meet and share a meal.

During the 2018-19 academic year, 381 Pitt-Bradford students received $636,930 in donor scholarships.

Student speaker Alyssa Reyna talked about her own journey from her home in Lubbock, Texas, to Pitt-Bradford, where she is a first-generation student majoring in chemistry and hoping to pursue a career as a physician's assistant.

“I knew that if I went to a big city, I wouldn't get the relationships I wanted,” she said. Among those relationships is serving as a peer mentor to freshman students, a position she said is the most rewarding among those that she holds on campus.

Reyna is among the first students to receive money for school from the new Dean Evans Legacy Fund, which was able to cover a remaining balance that might have prevented her from enrolling for her junior year at Pitt-Bradford.

“When I called my parents with the news that I had gotten this scholarship, they began to cry,” she told the audience, adding that she is thankful for her scholarships not only for herself, but also on behalf of her family.

The Dean Evans Legacy Fund is named in honor of Dr. K. James Evans, who retired last year after 42 years as dean of students at Pitt-Bradford. The fund helps promising students who run into unanticipated financial difficulties that can prevent them from returning the following semester. Evans spoke about the fund, which has reached $450,000.

Evans had done some math to prepare for his speech. He said he wanted to explain to “those over 55” why students today needed donor scholarships.

Using himself as an example, he said that he went to a small, private school in 1966, when his tuition for the year was $1,450. A $700 grant from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and a $100 scholarship from his college covered more than half of his costs. He could fund the remainder by working summers in a department store, where he made $1.25 per hour.

However, much has changed for students today, making it more challenging to afford a college degree.

Evans closed by asking students to make small contributions as donors themselves to remind themselves to give back when they are able. He asked donors to add to their scholarships and requested gifts to the Evans fund, which is an investment that can help students complete their educations.

Jill Dunn, executive director of Institutional Advancement for Pitt-Bradford, spoke about other new scholarships created during the current academic year: the Wesleah D. Blair Nursing Endowed Scholarship, the Christian A. Carlson Memorial Scholarship, the Class of 2018 Scholarship, and the Repchick Family Fund for nursing students.

To donate to make a contribution to a scholarship at Pitt-Bradford, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 814-362-5091 or visit www.givetoUPB.org.