West Virginia Campus Compact receives $250,000 grant

March 18, 2010

Ashley Schumaker
Director of Communications
Higher Education Policy Commission
304-558-0699 – office
304-382-3071 – cell

Charleston, W.Va. – West Virginia Campus Compact, a statewide initiative sponsored by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and housed at West Virginia University, has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to create a civic engagement service learning model involving training and mini-grants to partnerships between member colleges and community organizations.

West Virginia Campus Compact, which is part of a national coalition of more than 1,100 colleges and universities representing approximately six million students, is comprised of 26 member institutions, including public and private and four-year and two-year colleges and universities. By encouraging civic engagement in higher education, the program provides opportunities for students to engage in service learning and community service.

“West Virginia Campus Compact is grateful and pleased to receive this award,” said Franchesca Nestor, the program’s director. “As a result of this funding, we will be able to create strong links between our campuses and communities, leading to the kind of long term and important partnerships that can make a difference for our students, our citizens, and our state. It is our hope that the model, which will be generated by this grant, can be implemented again and again between equal campus and community partners for years to come.”

“I applaud Ms. Nestor and the state’s colleges and universities for embracing the role and

mission of Campus Compact,” said Dr. Brian Noland, HEPC chancellor. “Campus Compact

provides a link between students and the local community in which they live and learn. This

link fosters strong community ties for students, while positively impacting the lives of local

residents.”

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation is an independent foundation established in

1944 by Michael and Sarah Benedum, natives respectively of Bridgeport and Blacksville, West

Virginia. They named the Foundation in memory of their only child, Claude Worthington

Benedum, who died in 1918 at age 20. Grants are made in the areas of education, economic

development, civic engagement, health and human services, and community development to

advance specific initiatives in West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. The grant will be

administered by the West Virginia University Foundation.“I applaud Ms. Nestor and the state’s colleges and universities for embracing the role and mission of Campus Compact,” said Dr. Brian Noland, HEPC chancellor. “Campus Compact provides a link between students and the local community in which they live and learn. This link fosters strong community ties for students, while positively impacting the lives of local residents.”

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation is an independent foundation established in 1944 by Michael and Sarah Benedum, natives respectively of Bridgeport and Blacksville, West Virginia. They named the Foundation in memory of their only child, Claude Worthington Benedum, who died in 1918 at age 20. Grants are made in the areas of education, economic development, civic engagement, health and human services, and community development to advance specific initiatives in West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. The grant will be administered by the West Virginia University Foundation.

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