Beneath one roof, benefactors and scholarship recipients congregated together to celebrate what generosity has done for the students of Shippensburg University.

The annual Spirit of Generosity Scholarship Dinner was held on March 22 in the Tuscarora Room of Reisner Dining Hall. Students who benefit from scholarships at SU had the opportunity to dine with their benefactors, get to know them for the first time or catch up with each other.

Each year, alumni, former faculty and friends of SU make donations through the Shippensburg University Foundation to help students ease their financial burden. For many students, college would not be possible without the help of scholarships.

John Clinton, CEO of the SU Foundation, spoke about the impact benefactors create. Since 2008, more than $13.5 million has been donated toward students, which resulted in 105 new scholarships.

“They’re all unique because each person who establishes a scholarship has a different story to tell,” Clinton said.

After dinner, student speakers from each of the three colleges at SU shared personal accounts about how their scholarships have affected their educational experience. For some students, having a scholarship means that they have more hours in the week to focus on studying instead of working a job, or even two.

For college of arts and sciences student Devon Newcomer, the decision to attend SU hung in the balance with an offer to attend the West Point Military Academy. The prospect of receiving the ROTC scholarship at SU enticed him, but it was the overall feeling of the “Ship family” that drove the decision home, Newcomer said.

“Here, I was not just a number. I was and still am family,” Newcomer said.

It was always his dream to attend West Point. While debating the decision one day as he drove on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Newcomer saw an SU billboard and a car with a Ship decal. He felt like they were signs calling out to him.

“I saw my world through red and blue instead of cadet gray,” Newcomer said.

Since coming to SU in 2012, Newcomer has been active in the ROTC program. He is a senior history major who still plans on serving in the U.S. military.

Senior Rebekah Elbel spoke on behalf of the John L. Grove College of Business.

“In this room tonight we can personally see what the impact of someone’s gift can do,” Elbel said.

Elbel’s journey to SU started as a search for a college with a strong athletics program to suit her interests in track and cross country.

Elbel competed in her first year at SU, but decided that being a student athlete was not the best choice for her. Once she declared a business major in management, all of the pieces seemed to fall into place, she said.

Last summer, she participated in a research project/internship with Giant Food Stores in Shippensburg. Currently, Elbel serves as the Class of 2016 student senator and is the president of Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) at SU.

For junior Sharon Juarez, a student in the elementary education program at SU, selecting the college of education and human services at SU was the perfect fit. Juarez loves her major so much that she aspires to become a professor in the same department at SU, after working for years as an educator.

“It takes just one teacher to motivate these students to succeed,” Juarez said, promising to be that teacher.

Outside of the classroom Juarez is member of the SU women’s soccer team. Teaching and soccer have been her two favorite things since she was 4 years old, Juarez said. She is also a member of Kappa Delta Phi sorority and the honors program.

Marcie Lehman, chair of the SU scholarship committee, reminded attendees that oftentimes scholarships are the reason students are even able to get their degrees. These gifts help enable students to pursue their educational dreams.

Juarez vocalized this thought in her speech, telling the crowd of benefactors, “I promise, your generosity will not go to waste.”

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