News

CHENEY, Wash. - Eastern Washington University is having an incredible year, and to help keep Eastern excellent in the classroom and on the field, the university is launching the Keep Eastern IncREDible campaign to raise funds for EWU's General Scholarship Fund.

EWU has celebrated many student, faculty and university successes over the past year - including a record student body (10,750), a record number of National Science Foundation grants (five) and of course, the record-breaking Division I NCAA Football National Champions.

Jason Barbour, a student from Portland, Ore., goes so far as to proudly say the football team's success reflects the Eastern story of overcoming the odds. "As a nontraditional student, this (the football team's victory) just really, for me, says do the best you can at what you want to do in life, keep going at it, and some day you will win!"

Eastern students pride themselves on starting something big, and there has been no bigger challenge than achieving these successes amidst the ongoing economic difficulties. Like the majority of universities across the country, the financial downturn is still impacting many of EWU's scholarship endowments. While the EWU Foundation Endowment has grown in value by 27 percent since June of 2009, the endowment continues to recover from the financial crisis. The fair market value of several of these scholarship funds is lower than the principal, or the original amount donated. This prohibits the university from awarding a scholarship from impacted endowments.

More than 1,000 students applied for scholarships during the current academic year. And with possible tuition increases, scholarship demand is expected to jump by 150 percent next year. The goal of the Keep Eastern IncREDible campaign is to ensure EWU students are able to achieve their higher education dreams.

"There is no greater gift a donor can provide than one that supports student scholarships," said EWU President Rodolfo Arévalo. "With state support declining, more and more students are expected to apply for scholarship support. Giving to this scholarship fundraising campaign is a great way to keep Eastern students on track toward degree completion."

One-hundred percent of the contributions to the Keep Eastern IncREDible campaign go to the EWU General Scholarship Fund.

For more information about this scholarship campaign, or to give online at a secure website, visit ewu.edu/incredible.

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