Wilmingtonians Establish Scholarships to Honor UNCW Employees
11/15/2004 4:07:23 PM
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Nov. 15, 2004
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Two Wilmington residents recently established scholarships at the University of North Carolina Wilmington to honor UNCW employees.
On Nov. 1, Mark Griffis and David Robertson pledged $130,000 to create the Lenwood “Bo” S. Dean Jr. Honors Scholarship and the Marla Rice-Evans Political Science Scholarship. Dean works as an assistant in the Honors Scholars Program at UNCW. Rice-Evans is associate vice chancellor for university advancement.
“It’s the most amazing thing anybody has ever done for me,” Dean said.
They have earmarked $100,000 of their gift for the Dean scholarship, which will be used to assist incoming freshmen enrolled in the Honors Scholars Program. When fully funded, it will be one of the university’s elite scholarships, providing full tuition and fees for a student for four years.
The Rice-Evans Scholarship, also a merit award, will assist an incoming freshman with interests in political science or international relations.
“One of the most critical goals of our nation is to develop leaders for tomorrow who have extensive knowledge of the globe – not just our nation,” Rice-Evans said. “This scholarship that Dave and Mark have so generously established in political science and international relations embodies that goal.”
Griffis and Robertson are not UNCW alumni, but they appreciate the university’s contributions to Wilmington’s quality of life. They also want to make a direct impact in students’ lives and, therefore, indirectly impact the world.
“Any and all segregation in our society is based on ignorance,” Griffis said. “Education is the key to reducing that.”
Robertson, president of Realty Presentations, Inc., a Wilmington, N.C., company that promotes retirement communities throughout the South, said he and Griffis are already exploring additional ways to support UNCW.
“The way that you fundamentally change the world is by empowering others to learn,” he said.
For the seventh consecutive year, UNCW has been ranked as one of the top 10 public universities in the South. More than 11,000 students attend UNCW, a comprehensive state university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in four academic divisions: the College of Arts and Sciences, the Watson School of Education, the Cameron School of Business and the School of Nursing. The university was founded in 1947 as Wilmington College and joined the University of North Carolina system in 1969.
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