Cargill gives $1.1 million to Minnesota Private College Fund
Cargill continues its history of community leadership with a new gift to the Minnesota Private College Fund. One of the Fund's original donors when it was founded in 1951, Cargill has committed to a gift of $1,168,000 over four years.
This gift will provide funding for the recently created Access & Equity Scholarship for students of color, new Americans or first-generation students; and the Galileo Scholarship for students studying the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. It will also sustain the existing Cargill Diversity Scholarship and continue support for colleges' general operations.
Yer Thor, a senior at the College of St. Catherine, has been able to study abroad and pay educational expenses thanks to her Cargill Diversity Scholarship. "I am a minority student who has gone through many challenges and didn't know how I could finish my schooling without this support," she said. "It brings me great happiness and joy that I will be graduating this spring." Thor is double majoring in financial economics and international business. She studied in China in summer 2006 and is in South Korea for her last semester. Future plans include working in business and pursuing a graduate degree.
Another facet of the Cargill gift is support for a new Student Advocates program, which will engage a cadre of 50 students from across our member institutions who can serve as ambassadors to youth in diverse ethnic communities. Cargill's support will help formalize and expand existing outreach activities by students. For example, during the past three years, students from several of our campuses have represented their institutions at the annual Juneteenth event, which celebrates the end of slavery. This gift will allow the Minnesota Private College Council to leverage and extend ethnic student involvement in outreach, said Philip Miner, director of community initiative at the Council. "No one can tell the story about our colleges better than the students."
This is the first gift the Fund has received that is over $1 million. It establishes a new standard of corporate commitment to the Fund and our member institutions.