Pathfinder Bank Establishes Scholarship for SUNY Oswego Students with Financial Need

From sponsoring the annual showing of the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Oswego Cinema 7 to providing loans to locally owned companies, Pathfinder Bank and its employees give time, leadership and financial resources to those organizations that help the region grow and thrive.

“That’s why it’s so easy to be supportive of SUNY Oswego because nothing has greater impact on the local economy than SUNY Oswego and its faculty and student population,” said Pathfinder CEO Thomas W. Schneider. “The organization has been such a shining example of leadership and growth, and it has progressively positioned itself for the future.”

The bank decided to establish a scholarship to help ensure a well-educated and diverse workforce for the region’s future.

Pathfinder’s $30,000 gift to the college will establish the $25,000 Pathfinder Bank Opportunities Scholarship Endowment and will provide $5,000 to make annual awards of $1,000 for the first five years, beginning in fall 2016.

“Through this scholarship, Pathfinder supports our mission to provide a transformative experience to a diverse body of students, empowering them to live meaningful lives and build a better world,” said SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley. “We are grateful to have such a longstanding and generous partner in our community.”

SUNY Oswego freshmen, sophomores or juniors who have completed at least 12 credits, maintain a 2.8 GPA or higher and have demonstrated financial need will be eligible to apply for the $1,000 scholarship, which will be automatically renewed for a maximum of three years.

Interested students must also submit a 150-word essay demonstrating how they have overcome a disadvantage or impediment to succeed in higher education or how they have contributed to the diversity of the student body in their major or extracurricular activity.

The scholarship is just one way Pathfinder supports the college and its mission. The bank also sponsors an annual men’s ice hockey tournament, athletics excellence funds, the Genius Environmental Project Olympiad and other special programs as well as encouraging its staff members to serve on college advisory boards and sharing their professional expertise as adjunct professors in classes.

—Margaret Spillett

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