Widener University Offers Scholarships to Children of Iraq KIAs
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James Joyner | Monday, March 14, 2005 |
America Supports You: University Offers Scholarships (DefenseLink)
A Pennsylvania university is putting its values and money to work for the sons and daughters of servicemembers who make the ultimate sacrifice. âItâs just the right thing to do,â said Widener University President James T. Harris said during a telephone interview with the American Forces Press Service.
The genesis of the idea came when faculty and students at the four-year undergraduate school began being called up and deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. âI was speaking with a fellow faculty member,â Harris said, âand we wondered if there was something we could do.â Harris said he went back to his office and began âcrunching numbers.â He found enough money in the scholarship budget to offer four full scholarships to the university. The offer equals $100,000 for one student for a four-year degree. Harris said the university âtook it out of hide,â and he did no additional fund-raising to get the money. He presented the idea to the universityâs board, and the board members unanimously approved it. The board also went along with the programâs long-term commitment â some of the servicemembers killed in action have young children who wonât be old enough for college for many more years.
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Itâs called Widener CARES â for Children of Active and Reserves Educational Scholarships. The program is open to the sons and daughters of servicemembers killed in action in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. It is a national program. The university â in Chester, Pa., part of the greater Philadelphia area â spent some of its early life as Pennsylvania Military College. The school today still retains a âgood-sizedâ Army and Air Force ROTC program, Harris said.
The families of service members who die should be reasonably well provided for, as they can get $250,000 of life insurance for $16 a month. Still, this is a nice gesture.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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- Josh's Weblog linked with Widener University Offers Scholarships to Iraq Orphans
Or the service academies should give preference to qualified applicants from these families.
Although depending on the age of the dependant(s), and the financial situation of the surviving spouse, that 250k could go quickly, and may not be around by college time.
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