From left, Lance West, Dr. Wael Zatar, Kyle Bane, Dr. Lynne Mayer and Dr. Ron Area take part in a check presentation at the MU Foundation Hall, home of the Erickson Alumni Center. West, Mayer and Area are with the Marshall Foundation, Zatar is dean of Marshall’s College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE) and Bane is human resources director with Alpha Natural Resources.
Alpha Natural Resources, the fourth largest coal company in the United States based on produced coal revenue, today presented the Marshall University Foundation with a gift of $20,000 to support engineering majors in the College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE).
The expendable fund originally was established in 2009 as the Massey Energy Scholarship for Engineering with a five-year pledge of $100,000. Today’s gift represents Alpha Natural Resources’ continuing commitment toward the pledge.
Alpha Natural Resources acquired Massey Energy Company in 2011.
“We are very, very grateful to Alpha Natural Resources continuing to support this scholarship,” said Dr. Ron Area, CEO of the foundation and senior vice president of development. “It is so, so important.”
Kyle Bane, human resources director with Alpha Natural Resources, presented the check to the foundation in a brief ceremony at the Marshall University Foundation Hall, home of the Erickson Alumni Center.
“We’re just trying to give back to communities we operate in,” Bane said.
According to the scholarship guidelines, the recipients of the scholarship will be West Virginia residents who are full-time sophomores with engineering majors in the College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE) and minimum GPAs of 2.5.
First preference will be given to students pursuing careers in civil engineering and/or mechanical engineering, when that program is established in CITE, who are from the following southern West Virginia counties: Boone, Fayette, Kanawha, Logan, Mingo, Nicholas, Raleigh and Wyoming.
Second preference will be for students pursuing careers in civil engineering and/or mechanical engineering, when that program is established in CITE, from eastern Kentucky, other counties in West Virginia, or other areas of the United States. The dean of CITE will select the recipients and renew the awards for up to a total of three years (six semesters) if full-time status and a minimum GPA of 2.5 are maintained, in cooperation with the Office of Student Financial Assistance. The award is for tuition/fees and related academic expenses to include books and/or room and board.
