President Alexander, Wife Establish Fund for Labor Scholarship

Dr. Livingston Alexander, president of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and his wife, Evelyn, have established a fund to provide scholarships for students who need to work their way through college.

The Alexanders’ $5,000 gift was matched by the Agnes and Lyle Lewis Thomas Scholarship Challenge to endow the Livingston and Evelyn Alexander Presidential Labor Scholarship Fund.

The fund is part of a larger university program to make funds available for students who perform labor on the campus. During the past year, Pitt-Bradford allocated $60,000 to provide scholarships for student work on campus.

The university is also exploring partnerships with area businesses in which students can gain work experience and earn money to cover college costs.

One such partnership will allow students majoring in hospitality management to work at Glendorn with the salary shared between Pitt-Bradford and the luxury resort.

“When students contribute personally to the cost of their college education, they tend to take their studies more seriously and more often persist to graduation,” said Dr. Alexander. “I learned this from personal experience and feel that an appreciation for the value of work and personal responsibility are important attributes to develop in our students. Labor scholarships can not only provide funds for students, but also develop these important attributes.”

The Labor Scholarship Fund will complement the university’s federal work-study program by adding additional student work positions both at the university and in the community.

Recipients of the Labor Scholarship will work between 8 and 10 hours per week during the academic year and up to 20 hours per week during the summer. At the university, they will perform work that benefits Pitt-Bradford and provides students with both income and experience.

“At its most basic definition, work is an exchange of effort for compensation,” Alexander said. “However, through the Labor Scholarship, we intend experiences that are more than transactions but rather interactions leading to growth.”

Students working on campus may work as tutors in the Academic Success Center, as assistants for the Crime Scene Investigation House or the Energy Institute, assistants for the petroleum technology or chemistry programs, staff in the Sport and Fitness Center, Seneca Building or The Book Center or as assistants in other offices.

“At a time when students are finding it difficult to secure loans at reasonable rates, the Labor Scholarship Program becomes an important alternative to cover college expenses,” Alexander said.

To contribute to the Presidential Labor Scholarship Fund, contact Karen Niemic Buchheit, executive director of institutional advancement, at (814)362-5091 or kpb@pitt.edu.

(Photo courtesy of Pitt-Bradford)