The first West Virginia University scholarship for student veterans has been awarded to a senior athletic training major. Army veteran John Housby will receive $1,000 from the Esther L. Crane Endowed Scholarship for his final year of school.

“I’m grateful to have been awarded the scholarship, and that will definitely help me out because I exhausted the G.I. Bill; I only had it for three years,” the Alderson, W.Va., native said. “This award will definitely help me out in my last year of school.”

The scholarship was funded by Robert Crane and his wife, Sharon, who pledged $100,000 to establish the scholarship in his mother’s namesake to help support West Virginia’s student veteran population. Robert, of Moneta, Va., credits his mother, Esther Crane, a school teacher in the Jefferson County school system from Uvilla, W.Va., with his successful transition from the military into higher education.

Robert attended college on the G.I. Bill and wanted to give back to help other veterans achieve their goals. He spent nine years in the active Army and Army Reserve before resigning with the rank of captain. After he left the military, his mother was instrumental in encouraging him to return to school and get his degree. After his military service, Robert earned Bachelor and Master of Business Administration Degrees.

“Many times the G.I. Bill does not cover all of the costs of a college education, and we wanted to do something as a tribute to our wounded veterans,” Robert said. “They are the real heroes.”

The scholarship is awarded to a veteran student from West Virginia with a first preference to disabled military veteran students. More than 800 military veteran students and their dependents are enrolled at WVU.

“What makes this scholarship great is that it’s the only one of its kind,” said Jerry McCarthy, WVU Interim Veterans Advocate. “Helping student veterans achieve their education, career, and life goals is what West Virginia University is all about.”

“It’s people like Bob and Sharon Crane who our student veterans can rely on to make a difference in their lives and to get to a point where all student veterans succeed in higher education, achieve their academic goals, and gain meaningful employment.”

The endowment was created through the WVU Foundation in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The campaign is a $750 million fundraising effort being conducted by the Foundation on behalf of the University.

To find out more about how you can help WVU’s veteran students, visit http://sadevelopment.wvu.edu or make a gift to the WVU Veterans Fund online at www.mountaineerconnection.com/GivetoStudentAffairs.

-WVU-

cn/10/16/13

CONTACT: Jerry McCarthy, Interim Veterans Advocate
304.293.82629, Jerry.McCarthy@mail.wvu.edu

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