BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Sixteen new scholarships were announced on Wednesday at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Scholarship Benefactors and Awards Recipients Dinner. The scholarships are part of Transforming Lives: The Campaign for Illinois Wesleyan.
The event, held in the Young Main Lounge and Joslin Atrium on Illinois Wesleyan’s campus, gave students a chance to meet those who impact their lives by giving to scholarship funds. More than 90 percent of all students at Illinois Wesleyan receive some form of financial assistance from the University, which spent $26 million last year on financial support for students. Every six out of 10 students at Illinois Wesleyan receive funds on the basis of financial need – meaning they could not attend the University without the assistance. Scholarships created by alumni and friends meet part of the needed funds for those students.
The campaign has a goal of an additional $30 million to place toward Endowments for Students, which will increase the number and amount of grants and scholarships awarded to promising and deserving young scholars.
At the dinner, University President Richard F. Wilson thanked the benefactors who established scholarships, calling their contributions a “transformation.” He said, “That is our theme as an institution. Lives transformed. Possibilities embraced. Goals redefined. That’s what happens on this campus.” Wilson said he was excited at the opportunity of supporters and students to meet. “This great occasion is of mutual benefit on both sides of the table,” he said.