Read more: Local, State, Education, Donation, Culver Stockton, Study, Abroad, Two Million Dollars
The is a news release from Culver Stockton College;
Canton, Mo. – A St. Louis businessman has anonymously donated $2 million to Culver-Stockton College to create an experiential learning and travel fund as a source of grants to help finance students’ travel abroad as part of the C-SC curriculum. The $2 million donation is the largest single gift from an individual donor in the college’s 156-year history.
“We are extremely grateful to this good friend of the college for supporting our study abroad programs, which we believe are among the most important features of the Culver-Stockton curriculum,” said Culver-Stockton President Richard D. Valentine. “We believe that study abroad enriches our students’ educational experience and gives them a much greater appreciation of the world in which we live, its many-cultured richness, and the complexity of today’s global economy.”
“This gift will serve as a catalyst in the college’s work to provide students of promise with a superb education that best prepares them for accomplished lives and careers in the 21st century,” Valentine added. “Moreover, it will dramatically increase the number of Culver-Stockton travel abroad opportunities and help the college move much closer to its goal of having 50 percent of our students engage in such international experiential learning before graduation.”
The EXP@CSC curriculum builds in opportunities every semester for three-week courses that include travel abroad. Students prepare for the coursework during the early part of the semester, travel to the destination with faculty and other members of the class, and prepare reports on various topics that are either given on site or upon returning to campus. In the year since EXP@CSC was launched, Culver-Stockton study abroad courses have traveled to Turkey and the British Isles. Students leave December 2 for Egypt and will travel to the Netherlands in the spring. Currently, future study abroad courses are planned to Belize and Guatemala; Russia, Estonia, and Finland; and London, Paris and Rome.
Culver-Stockton students will only be eligible to receive one of the new grants, which will be awarded through a competitive application process that includes consideration of financial need. The grants will be paid from interest earned on the gift, which will be placed in the college’s permanent endowment.
“This is an absolutely transformational gift,” Valentine said. “It will not only enrich the wonderful learning experiences of our current students but will make a Culver-Stockton education an exciting choice for prospective students and parents. Simply put, this investment in our students and their lives will forever change learning on this campus.
