Administration

Agricultural honorary fraternity creates Trustee Matching Scholarship

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State chapter of a national agricultural honorary fraternity has established a scholarship endowment to support students in the College of Agricultural Sciences who have demonstrated financial need.

Alpha Zeta provided a $50,000 gift to create the Alpha Zeta Fraternity Trustee Scholarship. First preference for funds will go to students who are members of Alpha Zeta.

The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program maximizes the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible, meeting the urgent need for scholarship support. For Trustee Scholarships created through the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students on June 30, 2014, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift.

This level is an increase from the program's original match of 5 percent, and it is available only for new endowments of $50,000 or more. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment's annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need.

"We're looking forward to providing this scholarship opportunity to Alpha Zeta members," said Art Keen, Alpha Zeta Corp. board president. "We want to help these students get off to a great start in the agriculture industry as they graduate, and these scholarships will help make the financial burden of an education a bit easier."

Alpha Zeta is a professional organization of men and women whose educational and career objectives fall within the broadly defined field of agricultural and life sciences. Founded at Ohio State University in 1897, it is the oldest fraternal organization in agriculture.

The fraternity's stated goal is to develop leadership, fellowship and character among its student members. Prospective members must have an academic record in the upper two-fifths of their class after the completion of one academic year. The organization also encourages activities and service projects that help student members to develop their leadership skills.

Alpha Zeta's gift will help the College of Agricultural Sciences to achieve the goals of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America.

The University is engaging Penn State's alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University's tradition of quality. The campaign's top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State's history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014.

Last Updated March 5, 2014

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