Scholarship donors, recipients meet at reception on campus

Partnerships with the business community benefit Walker College undergraduates through funding for tuition.

More than 250 scholarship donors and recipients came together in the Holmes Center on October 23 for the Walker College's annual scholarship reception, which featured comments from Walker College supporter and Appalachian Board of Trustees member Kenan Smith. Smith is a member of the Dean's Club, the college's annual giving society that funds scholarships for multiple business students each year.

Tori Cole, Kenan Smith, Zully CastanedaEconomics major Tori Cole and management major Zully Castaneda delivered comments about the life-changing impact of the scholarships they received.

Pictured are Cole, Smith and Castaneda.

Donors participating in the event also included several Business Advisory Council (BAC) members, who were on campus for the semi-annual BAC meeting on the morning of the 23rd, and Dean's Club members.

The Walker College Dean's Club is an annual giving society designed to benefit our students and faculty while enhancing our academic programs. Contributions from Dean's Club members provide unrestricted support each year for critical needs in the college such as: student scholarships, travel funds for faculty and students to attend course-related conferences and/or visits to corporations, seed money for new programs or opportunities within the college, and resources to bring guest lecturers, such as leaders in business and government, to the classroom.

Thanks to generous scholarship donors, $438,000 was awarded to Walker College of Business students during this academic year, which marks the first time the scholarship awarded amount has surpassed $400,000.

View more photos from the 2015 scholarship reception.

The Walker College awards scholarships based primarily on academic achievement and/or financial need. A student's GPA is given significant consideration in the selection process, and additional consideration is sometimes given to career goals, involvement, and leadership in extracurricular activities.

Although most business scholarships require applicants to be of junior or senior class standing, the Lee Barnes Scholars program is a notable exception.

However, there is still a great need. Less than ten percent of business students receive scholarship assistance. Please contact Will Sears, searswill@appstate.edu for information about the Walker College of Business undergraduate scholarships or the scholarship process.

Tori Cole, Kenan Smith, and Zully Castaneda
Published: Oct 26, 2015 12:00am

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