June 09, 2015
Contributed Art/Rowan University
Robert Carr (left) presents a symbolic check for $1 million for scholarships to Rowan's president, Dr. Ali Houshmand.
Rowan University announced Monday that a generous endowment from the Give Something Back Foundation (GSBF) will help provide a free education to approximately 50 future students.
During a ceremony in Rowan’s Campbell Library on Monday, Princeton-based businessman and philanthropist Robert Carr presented a $1 million check from GSBF to Rowan’s president, Dr. Ali Houshmand.
"GSBF is excited to expand its scholarship program to New Jersey and to work with Rowan University, which shares our vision of making a college education available to qualified students of modest means," Carr said in a statement. "We want to help ensure students realize their full potential. And we want to encourage them to give back in the future."
This fall, GSBF will work to identify school districts with which it will establish a program that includes mentoring, networking, training, events and educational panels. High-achieving, economically disadvantaged high school freshmen in those districts will be eligible to apply for the program.
The partnership marks GSBF's first expansion into New Jersey after beginning in Illinois in 2003. GSBF has already helped more than 250 youths attend college through scholarships.
Carr, the founder and CEO of Heartland Payment Systems, one of the nation’s largest processors of debit and credit card transactions, said the program was inspired by a $250 scholarship he received as a high school senior that helped him attend the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
The first class chosen for GSBF scholarships will begin college in the fall 2019.
