More than 4,000 YSU students were touched by some form of financial aid from the YSU Foundation last year through the generosity of hundreds of donors. Pictured below are some of the students who benefited from scholarships. And behind each face is a story of the student receiving the award and the donor who made it possible.

No matter the reason behind the gift, the Foundation stands ready to help individuals or groups create endowments that support students for years to come. The magic number to endow a scholarship is $10,000, but that doesn’t have to come from a single source nor all at one time. What follows is a look at two different paths that both end in a lasting treasure for YSU and its students.

Many People Give a Little…

Ashley Cuba is in the final stages of finishing her master’s degree in Criminal Justice at YSU, while also working as a forensic investigator for the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. She credits much of her early career success to Dr. Joseph Ohr, former Mahoning County deputy coroner and forensic pathologist, who hired her for her first professional position in 2015 and served as a mentor to Cuba until he died two years ago at age 53. Cuba describes Ohr as smart, selfless and passionate about education.

“He would explain things in a way that he didn’t feel he was better than them, but in a simple way to understand,” Cuba said.

Ohr taught as an adjunct faculty member at YSU and served as a community educator, discussing topics, such as drug epidemics or unsafe sleep with babies, on local news stations.

Cuba and two other Mahoning County investigators, Wendi Parker, 2015, BS, Forensic Science and Theresa Gaetano, 2011, BS, Criminal Justice, looked up to Ohr and viewed him as a father figure. The trio wanted to honor his memory in a way that would make his own young child proud while extolling Ohr’s virtues of helping others.

So, they started a scholarship at the YSU Foundation for a YSU student majoring in Forensic Science. To raise the $10,000 needed for an endowment, they held a rock ‘n’ roll fundraiser in honor of Ohr’s musical interests at the Brickhouse in Struthers. Bands donated their time and performed all day. The event garnered $14,000.

Note: While Cuba funded this scholarship with the proceeds from a single event, fundraising often takes time. Endowments can also be funded over a period of several years.

Corporations Investing in Communities

Another pathway to endowing a scholarship is an outright individual or corporate gift, as in the case of Simon Roofing. The fourth-generation family company with roots in Youngstown since 1900 was looking for a way to further its close ties to the community.

“Simon Roofing has always been a big supporter of YSU,” said Anthony Vross, 2001, BSBA, Accounting. “The students of today are the future entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”

Vross and fellow owners Alex Simon, 1974, BA, Combined Sciences, and James Simon together created the Simon-Vross Scholarship to benefit a student with a physical disability. Preference is given to a student majoring in Chemical Engineering or enrolled in the Williamson College of Business Administration, two areas of the university which typically funnel students to Simon Roofing for internships.

Vross, a member of the WCBA advisory board and a 2015 Outstanding Business Alumnus honoree, feels the scholarship is an important way for the company to show its support for the university.

“YSU’s growth and success are extremely important for our community. If they succeed, everybody succeeds – students and businesses,” Vross said.

Vross credits the YSU Foundation with making it easy to set up a scholarship.

“The foundation manages all aspects of the scholarship process, which allows you to focus on the mission of funding it,” Vross said.

Steps to creating an endowed scholarship

For more information, call 330.941.3211.

$97,077,300 raised