Ohio MBA Student Starts Scholarship Fund in Honor of a VT Alumnus

You may recall recently talked about Jon Hanson and his book, "Good debt, Bad debt." I even gave away 3 copies of his book. Last week he made the following annoucement.

Columbus, Ohio, couple donates $5,000 cash and $20,000 in goods to create a "living endowment" at Franklin University, asks others to give online or by mail.

Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) May 1, 2007 -- A Columbus, Ohio couple has donated $5,000 cash and $20,000 in goods to create a "living endowment" at Franklin University, and the couple asks others to give online or by mail. The scholarship fund was started in honor of Virginia Tech alumnus Dave Gordon.

Several questions prompted the couple to act, including: Does your Alma Mater matter? What if the news every 10 minutes was about your Alma Mater not Virginia Tech? Is there a nationwide esprit de corps of the Alumni at 4,216 colleges and universities waiting to show solidarity for their VT Brothers and Sisters? What is the future of higher education funding? These are some of the questions that have been nagging Jon Hanson, a Franklin University MBA student, seeking to transition into fundraising and development work after spending the last 2 years promoting his book Good Debt, Bad Debt (Penguin, 2005).

Hanson said, "I spent most of last week trying to set up a fund in memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, I planned to create a fund at ScholarshipAmerica.org for the VT slain. Timing and appropriateness issues slowed progress. Now that Virginia Tech (vt.edu) has a similar fund set up to memorialize the victims--I decided to do something closer to home to honor my favorite Hokie."

Goal: Create a Living Memorial

Hanson and his wife, Nita, a Capital University Law Student have donated $5,000 to Franklin University from their fund at The Columbus Foundation, to establish the Dave Gordon Leadership Fund, a scholarship with a preference for adult transitional students, over-leveraged single parents, workers in non-profits, entrepreneurs, and self-employed persons.

Besides calling on others to give, Hanson plans to generate another $20,000 for the fund by donating 1,000 hardcover copies of Good Debt, Bad Debt to be sold at www.gooddebt.com .

"The scholarship will receive the entire $20 per book (Hanson will absorb the cost) and you are welcome to buy more than one. They come 28 to a case and are wonderful graduation and wedding presents." There is not a tax deduction for purchasing the books. Hanson will arrange to speak to your group depending on the amount of books purchased or honorarium paid to the fund. If you wish to make a tax deductible contribution contact Hanson through gooddebt.com or mail a check to Dave Gordon Leadership Fund c/o Franklin University, 201 S. Grant Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43215.

Touch Lives Not Buildings

Many donors prefer capital campaigns because you can see the building, you can walk in it, touch it--buy naming rights. "With a scholarship endowment we are able to create a living memorial; your donations will still be helping students 100 years from now. You are not buying a brick but a capital share in someone's future."

"Dave Gordon of Pickerington, Ohio (48) died from cancer in December 2006. He was a VT Alumnus and engineer for American Electric Power. He left behind his wife Jackie and three beautiful daughters. Dave was an enthusiastic supporter of Virginia Tech, traveling to many of their football games. The VT shootings brought Dave's memory to the forefront for me, I was driven to do something--I just wasn't sure what to do. A fund in his name will honor his memory from now on," said Hanson. "Dave practiced Servant Leadership and was an inspiration to all that knew him, even during the darkest days of his sickness. We need more people like Dave Gordon."

Hanson is concerned about the difficulty of older students locked into working and unable to generate the extra funds for grad school or even a bachelor degree. Franklin does a great job with adult students but, someone needs to pay. "Almost all of my MBA class receives employer reimbursement." Hanson says, he'd like to see the Dave Gordon Leadership Fund rise to about $340,000 to allow a full program scholarship each year to be awarded to a non-traditional student, working single parent, self-employed, or someone working at a non-profit. "The educational pie can only be cut so many times until the pieces are too small to be nutritious for everyone needing pie--those unable to pay or whose employers don't pay. The goal is to get more pie (scholarship and grant money)."