For six years, Stetson University has partnered with the philanthropic Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation on a unique program that provides scholarships to Stetson students who commit to extensive community-engaged learning (community service) and leadership training while they’re in college.

Now, the Bonner Scholars and Bonner Leaders programs will be part of Stetson University forever – thanks to a $2 million gift from the Bonner Foundation of Princeton, N.J. Stetson will match the gift through donor contributions already set aside.

The fund will be endowed to provide permanent annual funding for the student scholarships. With endowments, the principal is kept intact, and only the earnings are spent each year.

“The Bonner Foundation and Stetson University are perfect partners,” said Stetson President Wendy B. Libby. “They care about the values of our institution.

“We have come together to ensure generations of Stetson students will have the opportunity to engage in their communities, develop strong leadership skills, and change the world,” Dr. Libby said. “Some of these students would not otherwise be able to afford a Stetson education. Through the generosity of the Bonner Foundation, Stetson will be able to offer the Bonner Scholars and Leaders program forever, and we are grateful for the foundation’s gift.”

The program started at Stetson in fall 2005 with 18 students and has been funded through annual gifts from the Bonner Foundation. It has grown and, this year, Stetson has 52 Bonner students. Stetson is the only Bonner school in Florida – and one of more than 75 nationwide.

The new endowed fund will provide support for 70 students – 30 in the Bonner Scholars program and 40 in the Bonner Leaders program. Annual gifts from the Bonner Foundation will continue until the transition to the endowment is completed in fall 2013. The scholarships range in value depending on each student’s financial need, but they cover a significant amount of the cost of attendance, said Rina Tovar, Stetson vice president for Campus Life.

“In alignment with the Bonner philosophy, we select students with financial need who are strong academically and have a heart to serve in the community,” Tovar said.

What makes the program unique – and particularly valuable to the larger community – is that participating students commit to eight hours of community service each week with one of Stetson’s 28 non-profit community partners in Volusia County. The students also receive two hours of leadership training each week. The students selected for the Bonner Scholars program also engage in service for two summers during college, often in other countries, and attend service trips during their first and second years at the university.

Students accepted into the Stetson Bonner program must be deeply committed to helping others. They form long-lasting relationships with community partners as they work together for the betterment of the community.

“We match the student’s service passion to their academic interests so that the theory they’re learning in the classroom can be applied to their service site in the community,” Tovar said. “By having the student serve with the same community partner for at least eight hours a week for four straight years, it’s like providing that agency with a part-time employee.”

The Bonner Foundation supports anti-poverty programs in the areas of hunger and education. Since 1990, it has supported the four-year, service-based college scholarship program which is aimed at supporting students with financial need. Bonner Scholar and Bonner Leader programs are now at more than 75 colleges and universities across the country, providing “access to education, and an opportunity to serve” to more than 3,200 students annually.

Since its founding in 1989, the Bonner Foundation has awarded more than $86 million in annual grants and another $85 million in Bonner Program Endowment awards to 20 participating colleges and universities (which have a current market value of more than $162 million). Stetson is now among those endowed Bonner Program schools.

Stetson’s relationship with the Bonner Foundation began in 2005 under the leadership of then-Stetson President Doug Lee, who died shortly after his retirement in 2009. Stetson has since modeled many of its scholarships – not just those funded by the Bonner Foundation – to reflect the Bonner philosophy of community engagement and leadership. In 2009, Stetson hosted the national Bonner Summer Leadership Institute. In 2010, Stetson Vice President for Enrollment Management Deborah J. Thompson, who played a major role when the university was selected for inclusion in the Bonner Program, won a Bonner Administrator Award as part of the foundation’s Founders Award program.

President Libby credits Dr. Lee for providing the leadership that led to the $2 million Bonner gift to permanently endow the program at Stetson. “Doug was instrumental in raising the needed matching funds, and I would also like to thank those supporters for their generosity,” she said. “I give Doug a lot of credit for this. The commitment to community engagement and our partnership with the Bonner Foundation were in his heart.”