Bonner Foundation Offers $4.5 Million in Endowment Gifts to Carson-Newman Scholarship Program
Correction appended
The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation has offered Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn., a $4.5 million endowment challenge with the hope to foster and strengthen an ongoing culture of service.
According to the Baptist liberal arts college, those funds would then be used to permanently endow C-N's Bonner Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to students who actively participate in community service throughout their undergraduate careers.
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"The success of the Bonner Scholars Program has defined the direction of the Bonner Foundation," explained the Rev. Wayne Meisel, president of the Bonner Foundation, in a public announcement made by the college on Thursday. "By endowing the programs at the schools with a relationship, the Foundation strengthens her partners without ending the partnership."
Carson-Newman has partnered with the Bonner Foundation since 1991 to provide service-based scholarships to C-N students who have dedicated themselves to community involvement through the program. In that time, some $3.75 million has been granted to approximately 250 C-N students in the form of Bonner Scholarships. In return, those Bonner Fellows have performed more than 400,000 hours of service activities in the local community.
"The decision to endow the Bonner Scholars program represents a commitment not just to the individual students in the program but to the campus and community as well," Meisel explained further. "Our goal is to foster and strengthen an ongoing culture of service where everybody, everyday encounters the challenge and joy of service."
Since its establishment, the Bonner Scholars Program has provided students who have significant financial need an "access to education and an opportunity to serve," according to Carson-Newman. 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.
"The Bonner program is a win for everyone involved," said Doug Renalds, director of C- N's Bonner Scholars Program, in the announcement.
Renalds explained that the students' outreach projects cover a vast array of opportunities.
"Students benefit from getting an education and learning first-hand the value of helping others, while the College gets students who couldn't otherwise afford to come here,” he said. “And the community really benefits, because it receives a core of volunteers who truly facilitate change in the lives of people."
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. Carson- Newman and Maryville Colleges are the only institutions in East Tennessee that offer the Program.
Correction: Monday, Dec. 12, 2005:
An article on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005, about a $4.5 million endowment challenge offered to Carson-Newman College reported that the offer by the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation was made on condition that the institution raises an additional $2 million. According to a correction made by Carson-Newman, the $2 million is additional financial support that the college hopes to raise to merit the Bonner Foundation's.
