CSU-Pueblo Foundation receives scholarship gift from Rotary

PUEBLO – Rotary 43 has created a scholarship that will benefit the next generation of leaders through the President’s Leadership Program at Colorado State University-Pueblo.

Beginning in the Fall of 2015, the CSU-Pueblo Foundation will award the Rotary #43 Leadership Scholarship to one incoming freshman from Pueblo County who has been accepted into the President’s Leadership Program each year with at least a 3.5 grade point average (GPA). The scholarship is non-renewable.  Selected students must attend a Rotary meeting at least once a semester and maintain at least a 3.0 GPA.

Ken White III, Rotary #43 Foundation President, said the gift was about creating strong leaders while strengthening Pueblo’s future.

“Rotary is about service, it's about community, and about building a brighter tomorrow,” he said. “Rotary #43 is proud to support our local University and the PLP Program and most of all the young men and women of Pueblo County who will have the opportunity to receive this scholarship.”

The PLP is an academic leadership program that challenges students to further explore and develop their leadership skills.  Students in this program earn a minor in Leadership Studies in addition to their major.  Selection is based on leadership potential, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to service as PLP students must complete a minimum of 30 hours of community service each semester.

“The students in this program do not receive automatic scholarships upon their selection, and we ask a great deal from them, including above-average grades in their college courses, participation in leadership opportunities on campus, and service to the Pueblo community,” said Shelly Moreschini, director of the PLP program. “Many of our students from the Pueblo area also have to work to help pay for their college education, so scholarships like this help alleviate some of that burden, which allows them to be more active in the other areas.”

The President’s Leadership Program also is part of a network of 10 leadership program on major Colorado university campuses called the Colorado Leadership Alliance (CLA), which enables PLP students to meet and interact with leadership scholars from a number of other college campuses in the state.