Georgia State President And First Lady Donate $500,000 Gift To University’s Capital Campaign
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ATLANTA—Georgia State University President Mark Becker and his wife, Laura Voisinet, have made a $500,000 gift to the university in support of student scholarships, Athletics and the Rialto Center for the Arts.
The gift includes funds for the Mark Becker and Laura Voisinet Opportunity Scholarship, and the Women’s Philanthropy Scholarship program.
“We are very fortunate and honored to be able to make a $500,000 commitment to the university’s Burning Bright capital campaign,” Becker said. “We are building on our previous commitment because we have seen how philanthropy makes a difference for our students and faculty.”
Becker and Voisinet previously gave $40,000 that initiated the university’s nationally renowned Panther Retention Grant program. The program has provided more than $7 million to students in danger of dropping out because of financial difficulty the money they need to stay in school.
“Student scholarships are at the heart of who we are as donors,” Voisinet said. “I was a scholarship recipient, and I could not have earned my degree without that support. Scholarships are likewise critically important to many Georgia State students completing their degrees, so we are delighted to endow scholarships that will help students achieve their dreams for generations to come.”
“We also have a strong commitment to the Rialto, which is a cultural gateway to the university and a valuable contributor to the university’s global focus, and we are supporting Athletics, whose intercollegiate programs foster community at Georgia State and produce many future leaders.”
The gifts are part of the university’s $300 million fundraising campaign, which has raised $260 million in its first two years. The campaign is scheduled to end in 2019.