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While most students are looking for ways to keep money in their pockets, nearly 600 of them were willing to give it away to help fellow students in need.
On Feb. 12, Cowboy Spirit: Battle of the Bands 2010 raised more than $33,000 for OSU scholarships. This benefit concert at Tumbleweed featured five Oklahoma bands and a performance by celebrity judge Keith Anderson, an OSU alumnus and Grammy-nominated country artist. Carnegie, a band from Tulsa, Okla., walked away with the grand prize, but the real winner that evening was the OSU student body.
“This event exceeded our expectations,” said Kendal Turpen, Cowboy Spirit chairwoman, and hotel and restaurant administration sophomore. “It is great to see the campus come out and support such a worthy cause. Thanks to their donations, we will be able to award even more scholarships to deserving students.”
The OSU Student Foundation began Cowboy Spirit in 2008 to educate the campus about philanthropy and give students an easy, enjoyable way to help their peers. All funds raised through Cowboy Spirit go to a student-endowed scholarship fund, which provides OSU students with financial support.
The Student Foundation more than doubled the amount raised last year and credit that accomplishment to the students and community members who purchased $15 tickets and made donations. Event sponsors included Allegra Print and Imaging, the Atherton Hotel, Caroline Diedrich, Michael and Anne Greenwood, Hideaway, John and Caroline Linehan, the OSU Foundation, OSU Student Affairs, Stillwater National Bank, Tumbleweed, and Women for OSU.
To date, 12 Cowboy Spirit Scholarships have been awarded. One of these went to Carrie Sanders, an agricultural business sophomore.
"The Cowboy Spirit Scholarship helps me concentrate on my education instead of having to worry about working. This allows me to put my full efforts towards my education and making a difference here at OSU," Sanders said.
To be eligible for the Cowboy Spirit Scholarship, students must be undergraduates enrolled at OSU full time and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The scholarship is awarded based on financial need and preference is given to students who have a history of leadership and community service. To apply, students can submit the OSU Scholarship Application for Continuing and Readmitted Undergraduates.
The OSU Student Foundation was created in 2007. Its purpose is to serve Oklahoma State University by building, cultivating and sustaining relationships within the OSU community and to educate the student body about the impact and importance of charitable giving. StuFu acts as a bridge connecting the student body, community, donors and the OSU Foundation, its parent organization.
The OSU Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.
Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. OSU has more than 32,000 students across its system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and around 110 nations. Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.
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