New Pathways Scholarship Available to Students

This was the first of many successful years for Pathways.
                       Photo courtesy of Bradley Maier Rowe

The Concord University Advancement Office and the Concord University Foundation have established a new scholarship: The Pathways Scholarship. This scholarship has been made possible by a five-year grant from the Maier Foundation located in Charleston, West Virginia.  The Maier Foundation is a private, non-profit, charitable corporation with the purpose of furthering higher education in the state of West Virginia.

“It’s part of the Maier Foundation’s mission to financially support West Virginia students pursuing their college education. We are thrilled to partner with Concord University and other donors through this challenge grant to ensure a student’s goal of earning a degree is within their reach,” said Bradley Maier Rowe, Maier Foundation President and member of the Board of Directors.

    “We have met the challenge for the first year and will continue to seek partnerships for the upcoming years to continue this scholarship geared towards retention efforts,” Bren Yeager, Interim Executive Director of the Concord University Foundation, said.

    When the challenge went into place, the Concord Office of Advancement was able to partner with donors to receive the 2:1 matching funds needed to meet the challenge. The late Janet Lee Hall made a sizable donation to the scholarship; also contributing to the scholarship is the BB&T West Virginia Foundation. 

    “These generous contributions significantly help our goal of helping Concord students finish their degree programs,” Yeager said.

    Janet Hall was a native of Bluefield, West Virginia. Ms. Hall is an alumni of Concord College where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in English in 1953. Being an avid lover of language and literature, she devoted her life to encouraging others to acquire that same love. She began teaching English at Northfork Junior High School in Northfork, West Virginia. She also taught in the public school system in Waterbury, Connecticut, and at Montcalm High School in Montcalm, West Virginia. Hall then went on to WVU where she earned a master’s degree in English before she started her teaching career at the college level at Bluefield State College.

    She continued her career in education at the then newly-created Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. One of the foundational teachers at the Alexandria campus, Hall began as an instructor of English Composition. As she began to rise through the professional realm, she became active in expanding the curriculum and was chosen to teach the first English Literature course on campus, as well as the first college-level English Grammar course.

    Hall had achieved the rank of associate professor by the time she retired from the community college in 2000. She remained living in Northern Virginia, where she spent 47 years of her life. She passed away in June of 2015. 

    The Pathways Scholarship was announced to the student population at Concord University in early April and over 140 students applied for the $2000 per year award. The selection committee reviewed all of the applications and, on May 2, 2016, was able to award 35 students with the scholarship for the 2016-2017 academic year.

    “Concord University is committed to helping our students be successful. Student retention and completion efforts, such as the Pathways Scholarship, are essential to ensuring this success. Individual and societal benefits to earning a college degree are well documented. By retaining and graduating more students, Concord continues to fulfill its mission of serving West Virginians and the regional community.”  Dr. Sarah Beasley, Director of Retention, said.

    The Pathways Scholarship will be available for students to apply starting next semester. The scholarship is also renewable, and students who currently hold the scholarship will be able to apply for the reward again.

For additional information on the Pathways Scholarship, contact Bren Yeager at byeager@concord.edu or 304-384-6056.