October 06, 2006
Keith, Carol Sanders create scholarship endowment
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Two Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni are establishing a $100,000 scholarship endowment with the SIU Foundation to support the academic goals of high-achieving, low-income students from Benton Consolidated High School and Rend Lake College.
Keith and Carol Sanders announced plans for the scholarship during a luncheon hosted by the SIU Alumni Association and SIU Foundation Board of Directors today (Oct. 6) in the SIUC Student Center. The Alumni Association will administer the scholarship selection process.
The Keith and Carol Sanders Alumni Scholarship will be awarded annually to an incoming SIUC student. Eligible applicants must obtain a diploma from Benton Consolidated High School in Benton or be a Franklin County student graduating from Rend Lake Community College in Ina.
Recipients must be graduating either in the spring or summer of the year in which the scholarship is awarded. Recipients must also be admitted to SIUC for the semester immediately following the granting of the scholarship.
Candidates must rank in the top 40 percent of their class academically and rank in the lower 40 percent of the income level. Additional requirements include submitting three recommendations from authoritative leaders at either Benton Consolidated High School or Rend Lake College. Preference will be given to applicants who are from an alumni family. An alumni family is defined as one in which the candidate has a close relative – mother, father, sister, brother, or spouse – who graduated from SIUC and is a member of the SIU Alumni Association.
"High achieving, low-income students are increasingly being priced out of the higher education market. Carol and I want to do what we can in a small way to ameliorate this problem," says Keith Sanders, a member of the SIU Board of Trustees.
"As state funding declines, alumni are being asked to contribute more and more to the University. To say thank you for past and future gifts, students from alumni families will be given preference for this award."
Keith and Carol Sanders are both SIUC graduates who have devoted their professional careers to education. A Benton native, Keith Sanders has served as a faculty member at George Washington and SIUC, and was appointed as Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts at Southern in 1983. He joined the University of Wisconsin system in 1989, initially serving as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, and, later, as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the entire Wisconsin system.
Sanders returned to Illinois in 1998 and became Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He retired from the IBHE in 2002 and now serves on the SIU Board of Trustees. Sanders is also a past President of the SIU Alumni Association, and a recipient of an Alumni Achievement Award.
Carol Sanders, who received an elementary education degree from Southern in 1961, was a public school teacher for 21 years before retiring in 1989. She commenced her teaching career at Giant City Grade School. She also taught at school systems in Murphysboro; Alexandria, Va.; and suburban Pittsburgh. She is a native of Decatur, Ill.
Keith and Carol Sanders have been married for 45 years and are life members of the SIU Alumni Association. Their son, Mark, is a prosecuting attorney in Milwaukee, Wis.
Couple creates endowment – Keith
and Carol Sanders, both graduates
of Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, today (Oct. 6)
announced plans for a $100,000
scholarship endowment with the
SIU Foundation to support the
academic goals of high-achieving,
low-income students from Benton
Consolidated High School and
Rend Lake College. Plans were
announced during a luncheon
hosted by the SIU Alumni
Association and SIU Foundation
Board of Directors in the SIUC
Student Center. The Alumni
Association will administer
the scholarship selection
process. Keith Sanders is a
member of the SIU Board of
Trustees. Download Photo
Here