The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges
250 E. Broad St., Suite 1700
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3722
For more information contact Lynne Briggs or Cheryl Kight at
614-469-1950 or briggs@ofic.org, kight@ofic.org
EAST CANTON RESIDENT, RECIPIENT OF GEORGE DEUBLE FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP, PURSUING MARKETING DEGREE AT ASHLAND UNIVERSITY
Sam Russell, from East Canton, is a senior in Marketing at Ashland University with a major focus in Business and a minor in Communication. He is the recipient of a scholarship from the George Deuble Foundation through The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges’ Ohio Scholars Program.
Sam writes in his thank-you letter to his scholarship donor that he never considered a college education a possibility because of the cost and says, “Words cannot express how thankful I am that you have helped give me a chance to learn and experience the best four years of my life”. He deeply appreciates the value of the skills he has developed at Ashland University and had the opportunity to apply them during the internship he served last summer with Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store. Sam created a Facebook page for the company and managed that and the Jo-Ann MySpace site to raise brand awareness and create relationships with customers.
On the dean’s list at Ashland, Sam is active in the university’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter and for the last two years has traveled to Put-In-Bay with other SIFE members to teach high school students business and entrepreneurship concepts. “I’m so grateful to those who provide scholarships to allow students to get college degrees,” he stated. “I hope someday to be in a position to provide scholarships myself.”
OFIC is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities and operates one of the largest, most comprehensive and diverse scholarship management services in the state. OFIC member colleges collectively enroll nearly 97,000 students and award one-third of all bachelor’s degrees in the state. For 58 years OFIC has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education and has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship commitments through funds raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in private higher education. OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 34 member colleges.
The member colleges are: Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg College, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone University, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum College, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.