HIGHLANDS, BURRELL, OAKMONT, FOX CHAPEL AND
NEW KENSINGTON AREA PARTNER ON ENDOWMENT
Five Rotary clubs in the Alle-Kiski Valley joined forces to establish the $50,000 Rotarian Trustee Scholarship at Penn State New Kensington.
The scholarship was announced Oct. 23 at Oakmont Country Club during the 75th anniversary celebration of the New Kensington Area Rotary Club. In attendance was Sakuji Tanaka of Japan, who is serving a one-year term as president of the International Rotary.
The five local rotary clubs--Highlands, Burrell, Oakmont, Fox Chapel and New Kensington Area –as well as several individual donors, created the endowment to assist local area students with their chosen career paths. Robert Arbuckle, former campus executive officer at Penn State New Kensington and past district governor of the Pittsburgh Area Rotary Clubs, spearheaded the initiative. Arbuckle has been a member of the New Kensington Area club since 1975.
Hannah McBean, an adult student at the New Kensington campus, opened the anniversary celebration by singing the national anthems of the United States and Japan. McBean is a published author, poet, singer/songwriter, radio host, and motivational speaker. Her book, “Silent Spring,” features inspirational poetry that she uses in her motivational speeches. A junior in the Organizational Leadership program, she expects to graduate in 2014 and begin a start-up company that addresses issues of at-risk children. The Organizational Leadership program is designed for adult learners such as McBean, a wife and mother of six children. The program’s flexibility allows her to take traditional classroom instruction and to study online from home.
Rotary International is an organization whose main objective is service in the community, in the workplace, and around the world. There are more than 34,000 Rotary clubs and 1.2 million members located in nearly every country around the globe. Open to people of all cultures and ethnicities and not affiliated with any political or religious organizations, the clubs volunteer in communities at home and abroad to support education and job training, provide clean water, combat hunger, improve health and sanitation conditions, and eradicate polio.
For a list of scholarships at Penn State New Kensington, visit http://www.nk.psu.edu/Giving/endowments.htm online.