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National Peace Corps Association > News > Community News > Endowing a Scholarship to Honor the Peace Corps
Endowing a Scholarship to Honor the Peace Corps
By Erica Burman on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Jesse Dubin (Chile, 64-66)
Many of us love our Peace Corps experience. Many of us love our alma maters. But few of us combine our passions and put our money where our mouth is.
One such person is Jesse Dubin (Chile 64-66). Jesse is a proud alumnus of the SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (ESF) and he is encouraging ESF grads and returned Peace Corps Volunteers to support the creation of an endowed scholarship at the school.
“I am helping to fund a scholarship at SUNY/ESF, a state college, in honor of Peace Corps because of the excellent education the college provided and because of the importance Peace Corps had in my life and to the world,” says Jesse. “Like many of the 60s generation, I was imbued with the Kennedy spirit. My Peace Corps service in Chile changed my outlook on life. It helped me focus my career in international agriculture development and gave me my family”.
ESF’s relations with the Peace Corps have strengthened over the years. In cooperation with the Peace Corps, ESF now offers opportunities for participation in four different Masters of Professional Studies degree programs, each of which incorporates Peace Corps volunteer service as an integral component of the graduate degree. These new MPS programs successfully integrate the Peace Corps and ESF experiences in a way never before possible.
Students eligible for award of the scholarship will include matriculated MPS students who have completed their Peace Corps service, and returning Peace Corps Volunteers who are applying for admission to graduate studies at ESF.
In order to jumpstart the effort, Jesse has offered a fundraising challenge: he will match the first $5,000 raised dollar for dollar, thereby doubling the impact of the gifts. A minimum of $25,000 total in gifts is required to establish the endowment. If you have ideas on how to raise further funds for a scholarship in honor of the Peace Corps at ESF, please email Jesse at hjd @ live.com.
What a great idea. I’m doing something similar at the American University of Afghanistan. We want to honor the 1800 Americans who served there and help provide a very different way of thinking about our country and what values we represent. I’m also providing a $5k dollar for dollar match, and have secured an initial $10k contribution. If anyone is interested, please email me.