Prestigious Bonner Leader Scholarships offer minimum 50% tuition scholarships to 15 incoming students

Nazareth has announced that it will now offer 15 prestigious Bonner Leader scholarships per year — which include a minimum 50% tuition four-year scholarship, leadership training, and paid community engagement opportunities — for students starting their studies at Nazareth beginning in Fall 2023. Nazareth is the only New York state higher education institution west of Albany offering the Bonner Leader program, and is one of only 75 Bonner Leader institutions nationwide, conducted in partnership with the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation. 

Bonner Leader programs typically attract students who, even in high school, have shown leadership qualities and an interest in social justice, community collaboration, and being changemakers in their community. Because it is anticipated that the scholarship slots for the 2023-22 freshman class at Nazareth will be highly coveted, Nazareth urges high school seniors with similar interests to apply to Nazareth's Bonner Leader program as soon as possible for the service-based scholarships. All prospective students are eligible; new applicants are welcome to apply.  Applications for the Bonner Leader program will be accepted after February 1, but the application window for Bonner Leader will close once all scholarship slots have been filled.  

Parents, teachers, coaches, youth activity leaders, and religious leaders who may know of students who fit the profile of a Bonner Leader are also encouraged to inform these students about the Bonner Program at Nazareth. Adults can also nominate a student for the Nazareth Bonner Leader program by visiting Nazareth’s “Inspire a Flyer” or by contacting Bonner Leader Program Director Adam Lewandowski directly at alewand8@naz.edu. 

“Nazareth attracts students who want to be part of a community that creates a more just, healthy, and equitable future. The Bonner Leader program is the perfect way for students to develop leadership and changemaking skills around the social issues that they’re passionate about, in collaboration with expert community partners, and at a university that appreciates and wants to grow that passion,” said President Beth Paul, Ph.D. 

Program Details

In addition to a four-year tuition scholarship, Nazareth Bonner Leaders will be paid weekly for doing changemaking work with area Nazareth community engagement collaborators, such as the Rochester City School District, Boys and GIrls Clubs of Rochester, Nativity Preparatory Academy, Discovery Charter School, Pathstone, Center for Youth, and YWCA. Nazareth students will receive professional development, training, and mentoring, and they can choose their focus from issues and initiatives such as anti-poverty initiatives (hunger and food insecurity, housing) and equitable education (access to quality schools, instruction and opportunities). 

Bonner Leaders’ opportunities:

• Community building: Take several common courses as a Bonner Leader cohort. Attend weekly meetings as class-year cohorts, site-based teams, and as a full Bonner Leader team. Build communities of service on your floor, in your residence halls, classes, among friends, and in clubs and organizations. Network with Bonner Leaders from other universities and colleges.
• Civic engagement: Participate actively in the democratic processes of your community. Sophomore year, engage in policy research and develop a policy issue brief. Learn and serve through your paid changemaking role with a partner organization. 
• Diversity: Serve in urban, rural, and/or international communities with people from various racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. Incorporate diversity and your community experiences into your academic coursework and weekly Bonner training. Bonner Leaders focus on being allies and advocates, educating themselves about social justice issues.
• International perspective: Experience at least one international trip in your tenure at Naz, spending time getting to know a community abroad.
• Social justice: Pursue the root causes of poverty — which affects education, health and other issues —  in service sites and academic coursework, and seek to address those root causes in and through social change projects.
• Spiritual perspective: Explore the spiritual dimension of service and partnership. 

The Nazareth Bonner Leader program builds on Nazareth’s many years of community partnerships and student engagement focused on making an impact. Nazareth sophomore Gabrielle Lawyerr, a history and adolescence inclusive education major, is very involved at Rochester’s Boys and Girls Club, tutoring Rochester children  in grades K-8. While the Bonner Leader program is only for incoming students, Lawyerr’s experiences prompt her to encourage new students to apply for the many opportunities Bonner could give them. 

“Being a changemaker at Naz will make sure you see the world through a new and divergent view. Nazareth, in the best way, sends you out into the community to see and experience people of a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, and stories. You might discover something new and amazing about yourself. My advice would be to walk into an opportunity like the new Bonner Leader program with an open mind and find the best of yourself.”

Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for nearly 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.

Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.

• published: 2023 January
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