YSU English Festival Launches Fundraising Campaign
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Youngstown State University English Festival, in its 35th year, will welcome its 100,000th student this spring. The milestone is being marked with a $100,000 fundraising campaign.
“This year, on our 35th anniversary, we really want to reconnect with the thousands of students and teachers who have been touched by the English Festival -- not only to ask them to consider making a donation, but also to share with us their memories,” said Gary Salvner, festival co-chairman with Jeff Buchanan.
The three-day festival, one of the most successful and enduring annual events in the history of the university, draws 3,000 middle school and high school students to the campus where they discuss books, meet authors and participate in writing competitions.
The campaign has raised $52,456 so far. Lead donors include Bruce and Nancy Beeghly, long-time supporters of the university, and Bege Bowers, retired YSU associate provost and English professor. Other major donors are Salvner, Scott Schulick, vice president-investments for Stifel, Nicolaus and Co. Inc. and a member of the YSU Board of Trustees, the Gay Family and Rick Shale, YSU English professor emeritus.
“The English Festival is truly a celebration of reading and writing that has touched the lives of countless young people across the region for more than three decades,” said Nancy Beeghly, a member of the festival’s advisory board. “I am always thrilled to see students cheering for one another at the festival.”
This year’s celebration, scheduled April 17 to 19, will surpass the 100,000 mark in number of students who have attended since the first festival in 1979. Over the years, students have come from more than 300 middle and high schools, from Leetonia to Lordstown, West Middlesex to West Branch and Kentucky to Michigan. The festival has earned its share of national recognition, including the Intellectual Freedom Award from the National Council of Teachers of English.
The fundraising campaign will establish an endowment to support ongoing operations of the festival, Salvner said.
For more information or to make a donation, call Shanna Blinn in the office of university development at 330 941 3119.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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