WVU alumni to welcome students with $300,000 in scholarships

August 18th, 2002


With classes starting Monday, Aug. 19, this is sure to be a busy weekend for returning and first-year West VirginiaUniversity students alike. Nonetheless, there is one event that is sure to be on at a few hundred schedulesthe WVU Alumni Associations disbursement of scholarship checks to 312 students from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at Erickson Alumni Center.


In most cases, the checks are for $500, the first installment of a $1,000 annual award from the associations Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund (LPEF). Recipients, who were notified in the spring of the awards, are invited with their families and friends to a cookie-and-punch reception and the awarding of their checks.


WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr. will offer welcoming remarks, and the pleasant task of doling out the funds will go to Stephen L. Douglas, chief executive officer of the association, Gen. Earl E. Anderson (USMC, Ret.), chairman of the LPEF trust committee and James R. McCartney, LPEF committee member.


The Mountaineer mascot, Trey Hinrichs, also will be present.


“This is an exciting day,”Douglas said,”and I look forward to it every year. We are fortunate that so many of our own graduates have been generous enough to make these awards possible. It makes a real difference for these hard-working students.”


There are more than a dozen different ways to qualify for an LPEF scholarship. For instance, in recognition of past achievement, 87 high school valedictorians will be receiving checks. Also, 21 former high school student body presidents will receive Mountaineer Parents Club awards. Students of law, creative arts, pharmacy and other disciplines will be recognized as well.


The Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund at WVU , established in 1937, has provided scholarships to over 2,000 worthy and needy West Virginia students, including over 400 who are currently enrolled. The LPEF trust committee also includes James H.”Buck”Harless.


The WVU Alumni Association, chartered in 1873, represents more than 145,000 university graduates residing in every county in West Virginia, every state in the union and approximately 60 foreign nations. With nearly 100 registered chapters and constituent groups, the associations 26,000 dues-paying members support Homecoming Weekend, the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni and dozens of other social and philanthropic programs.