The Dr. Bill Marion First-Generation Scholarship Fund was established in 2010 by the Office of Multicultural Programs and a group of faculty, staff, and students at Valpo. The scholarship was also endorsed by the Diversity Concerns Committee. The goal of this scholarship is to promote student success and retention by assisting full-time, undergraduate, first-generation college students, who demonstrate financial need, to achieve their educational dreams. A student is considered “first generation” if neither of the student’s parents earned a college degree at the baccalaureate level or higher. A student who regularly lived with and received support from only one parent who did not earn a baccalaureate degree would also be eligible. Scholarship recipients are asked to give back by serving as mentors for the Office of Multicultural Programs’ SMART Scholars Mentoring Program. Recipients are also expected to serve in their communities, after graduation, as volunteers, activists or community leaders.

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