$150,000 Grant Promotes Quality in Education

Knox College has received a $150,000 grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation to augment the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund established at Knox College in August 2000. The fund provides annual scholarship assistance to Knox students of color majoring in Educational Studies.

?The Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund helps bright, committed young men and women of color who use their education to serve our nation?s youth,? says Lawrence B. Breitborde, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college.

?This grant nearly doubles the Fund?s capacity to assist these talented students,? Breitborde adds.  Knox will use the additional income to increase the number of scholarships offered each year to at least two, and will increase the size of each scholarship to meet rising educational expenses.

The first Hearst scholarship was awarded in 2001, and three graduates have already begun their teaching careers, another is pursuing graduate study. A fifth student graduated in June 2008.

Knox?s Educational Studies program offers teaching certification programs in elementary education (K-9), art, music, and language education (K-12), and secondary education (6-12).  An emphasis of the program is to improve the conditions and quality of schools and pre-college education.

The purpose of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund is to assist and encourage students of color to successfully pursue careers in pre-college teaching.

?Today, only 15 percent of our nation?s teachers in elementary and secondary schools are African American, Asian American, Hispanic American or Native American. That, coupled with the below average salary of teachers, and the decision to become a teacher can be seen as one of commitment rather than financial calculation,? says Diana Beck, chair of the educational studies department. ?The William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship at Knox has made a real difference in helping students to make and persist in that commitment.?

A student receiving the scholarship must be an Educational Studies major who demonstrates financial need and is a student of color. Preference will be given to students who are also the first in their family to pursue a bachelor?s degree, who have demonstrated academic excellence within the Department of Educational Studies, and who have demonstrated commitment to service and outreach through organized community agencies or campus clubs and organizations.
 
Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox?s  ?Old Main?  is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.