The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) will be raising money to support the Millennium Scholars Program on GivingTuesday, slated to begin at 6:55 p.m. Monday, Nov. 29, and lasting through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30. Early fundraising is already underway.
The college seeks to raise $10,000, which will help fund one Millennium Scholar in the 2022-23 academic year. Fundraising efforts will include help from the college’s “Champions” on social media. This year’s campaign will include games such as “social media tag,” where donors can call on others to participate and “50 States to 10K,” which seeks gifts in the name of all 50 states. For the third year in a row, Tony Hutchinson, who graduated in 1990 in geography, is matching contributions 1:1 up to $5,000. Two additional 1:1 gift match opportunities — one for Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) donors and one for new donors to Penn State — can potentially increase a $25 gift to $100.
To learn more or to make an early contribution, visit the college’s GivingTuesday website.
The Millennium Scholars program aims to improve diversity and opportunity in STEM fields. It began in 2013 at Penn State, and EMS joined in 2016. The college has 21 scholars and five graduates, the majority of whom are currently enrolled in doctoral programs at universities such as Stanford, Clemson and North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For more on the program, visit our Millennium Scholars homepage.
Hutchinson, who is director of government and industry relations at Freddie Mac, said he continues to support the program because he knows there are diverse minds with potential to excel in STEM in ways that benefit both those individuals and society. He said the United States has always benefited from this melting pot of ideas and increasing diversity will do the same for STEM fields.
“One thing that the United States has over a lot of other countries is that we have so many groups of people here. We can understand the mindset of almost anybody anywhere else in the world. Why? Because we have them here ─ that’s power,” Hutchinson said. “When we harness the power of all these differing opinions and try to find solutions to great global problems, it improves and increases our ability to take that next step. When you have diversity of thought, when you can take a look at multiple sides of the equation, the answers that you come up with are going to be plentiful.”
Since 2016, the college’s GivingTuesday campaign has raised more than $60,000 for Millennium Scholars.
Designed to set students up for success on their path to a doctorate, the program provides scholarships and support to students selected as Millennium Scholars. It relies on a cohort-based approach that encourages each student to assist one another in pursuit of their academic and career goals. Millennium Scholars are selected for the program after a rigorous application and interview process through which applicants highlight their commitment to diversity in STEM fields.
Gifts to GivingTuesday will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.