Lawrence University's most distinctive curricular program, Freshman Studies, will be the beneficiary of a $500,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The award is contingent upon the college raising a matching $2 million by July 31, 2005. The $2.5 million total will establish a permanent endowment to support the Freshman Studies program.
The NEH grant and subsequent matching funds will make possible a broad spectrum of programs, including initiatives to prepare faculty members to teach the course, providing released time from teaching for the faculty director of Freshman Studies, and adding a full-time academic support person to supplement Freshman Studies instruction and also supervise tutors in Lawrence's writing lab.
The grant also will provide additional library holdings and technological resources and create increased opportunities for campus visits by distinguished lecturers, noted artists, and performers such as the theatre troupe Actors from the London Stage.
Plans also call for an expansion of the Lawrence Institute for Student Assessment program, as well as efforts to extend the influence of Freshman Studies beyond the Lawrence campus.
"This is a wonderful testimony to the significance of Freshman Studies as an exemplar of liberal learning," said President Richard Warch in announcing the award, "and we are excited by and grateful for the NEH endorsement.
"Freshman Studies is the one course that our alumni most frequently cite as the most telling and lasting intellectual experience of their college years," Warch added.
Lawrence was one of only three private institutions awarded a challenge grant by the NEH, among 33 recipients, 13 of which were colleges and universities.
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