UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new endowed scholarship will focus on supporting Penn State’s Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC). The Evensen-Lions in Recovery Scholarship Award was established by Dorie Evensen, professor of education and 25-year member of the Penn State faculty.
Evensen’s initial gift of $25,000 to establish the scholarship was bolstered by contributions from family, friends and colleagues as well as members of the Penn State Alumni Interest Group, Lions in Recovery, in honor of Dorie’s retirement on June 30. Through the University’s new fundraising campaign, A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence, Penn State is partnering with donors by offering a University match. Thus, establishing the first $100,000 scholarship for the CRC. The First-Time Endowed Scholarship Donor Matching Program provides a 1:1 match for donors who create their first endowed scholarship at Penn State during the Greater Penn State campaign. To qualify, scholarships must support undergraduate students who demonstrate need, meeting the definition below. The purpose of this program is to attract new scholarship endowment donors to create need-based scholarships at the University.
The Evensen-Lions in Recovery scholarship will be awarded annually to students who are active members of the CRC and demonstrate academic, participation and service achievements.
The CRC, a program in Student Affairs, was founded in 2011 to help students in recovery from alcohol and other addictions. The program supports students through fellowship and programming designed to promote a sober lifestyle within a collegiate setting.
“My work with the CRC began with its inception and I have witnessed extraordinary academic gains made by students taking advantage of the gift of a second chance,” said Evensen. “CRC students understand that reaching out for help and building peer support is not a weakness but a strength. This scholarship recognizes that financial help can simultaneously reward past accomplishments and contribute to future security and success.”
Since 2011, the CRC has grown to a thriving community of 26 active members. Members are highly successful, with very low relapse rates and higher GPAs and graduation rates than the University Park averages. The students in the program remain completely free of alcohol and other drugs. They attend weekly peer-support meetings and other CRC activities and are expected to work a recovery program in addition to their involvement in the CRC. The CRC also has dedicated on-campus recovery housing with the ROAR (Residence of Addiction Recovery) House.
To learn more about the CRC or to contact the program, visit studentaffairs.psu.edu/familyservices/crc/. To contribute to the endowment, visit www.GiveTo.psu.edu/EvensenRecoveryScholarship or contact Andrea Pagano-Reyes at amp244@psu.edu.
Gifts from Penn State’s alumni and friends have been essential to the success of the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve the public good. To fulfill that mission for a new era of rapid change and global connections, the University has begun A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence, a fast-paced campaign focused on the three key imperatives of a public university. Private support will keep the door to higher education open and enable students to graduate on time and on track to success; create transformative experiences on Penn State campuses and around the globe that tap the full potential of Penn Staters to make a difference; and impact the world through discovery, innovation, and entrepreneurship. To learn more, visit www.giveto.psu.edu.