Chancellor Nancy Cantor
From Sorkin Week in Los Angeles to Study Abroad in London to Engagement Scholars in Syracuse, immersion programs that enable students to “test what they think they know” are hallmarks of the Syracuse University experience. Yet not every student has the financial capacity to participate in these dynamic experiences. A new scholarship fund being established to honor SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor will help address that challenge.
As Chancellor Cantor departs SU to become the Chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark in January 2014, the Board of Trustees and the University will honor her legacy at Syracuse by creating the Nancy Cantor Scholarship Fund, which will help provide SU students greater access to these types of immersion and engagement opportunities.
“Chancellor Cantor’s legacy includes a strong commitment to SU’s history of access and opportunity. With this new fund in her honor, we will build on and sustain that commitment by helping to provide students greater access to the many engagement opportunities that have come to distinguish an SU education,” says Richard L. Thompson G’67, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “I hope that members of the SU community will join us in honoring Chancellor Cantor and supporting the Nancy Cantor Scholarship Fund—which will help enrich the academic experience of our students.”
The costs for travel and other expenses for these experiences are not typically funded by standard financial aid packages, which can present a barrier for low- and middle-income students and families. The Nancy Cantor Scholarship Fund will help provide resources to support students from all socioeconomic backgrounds to participate in these increasingly important real-world opportunities—to learn by doing, near and far. Furthermore, as future employers increasingly look for graduates who have cultivated both meaningful experiences and a global perspective, experiential learning has become a vital component of a 21st century undergraduate education.
For students like Emily Pompelia ’14, her five-month study abroad program in Freiburg, Germany, gave her an unforgettable and unique academic perspective. “I experienced university life as a German student, enhanced my language skills and built relationships with German classmates, professors and friends. Syracuse University made this opportunity possible through its World Partner programs,” says Pompelia, who is majoring in newspaper and online journalism, policy studies and German. “Even from over the ocean, SU helped me grow both personally and professionally and challenged me every day.”
Alumna and recent Kauffman Entrepreneurship Engagement Fellow Lindsey Briggs ’09, G’10, traveled to Cannes, France, as part of the International Digital Social Media course for an experience of a lifetime. “Through this great exposure, I learned an overwhelming amount about the advertising and creative industry,” Briggs says. “Being in Cannes—away from main campus—granted me the opportunity to look at the world with a pair of fresh eyes. Most importantly, it helped me learn more about—and embrace—the professional niche I can create and bring to the communications industry.”
Pompelia and Briggs represent just two examples of the vital learning and one-of-a-kind opportunities that take place during these engagement and immersion programs.
More information about the Nancy Cantor Scholarship Fund and how to make an online donation is available at http://givetosu.syr.edu.
