Dayton Daily News: Reynolds and Reynolds to donate $3.6M to Wright State

Excerpt

Reynolds and Reynolds Company and its foundation will donate $3 million to launch an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans at Wright State University and an additional $600,000 to create $5,000 scholarships for business students.

Wright State president Sue Edwards called the gift “one of the largest in the history” of the university.

“The service men and women that defended our right to life, liberty and happiness must not themselves be obstructed from achieving their own American Dream,” said Chris Walsh, president of Reynolds. “We are honored by the sacrifices they have made, and this is one way we thank them for their service — by helping ensure there is a path toward a fruitful future for them when their service ends.”

The Reynolds and Reynolds Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans will further expand the collaboration between Reynolds and Wright State while supporting the success of military veterans who are aspiring entrepreneurs.

Bootcamp veterans will go through a 30-day online course on entrepreneurship fundamentals, and then participate in an eight-day residential experience at WSU, which includes travel, food, accommodations, lessons and entertainment, at no cost to the veterans. Graduates of the program will then have 12 months of ongoing support. The Wright State Raj Soin College of Business will have people focused on small business development teaching and speaking during the course and experience.

Post-9/11 veterans with honorable discharge are eligible to apply for the program. There is no requirement that applicants be enrolled as a Wright State student.

The bootcamp will be part of a larger consortium of higher education institutions, initiated by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University. The consortium is currently comprised of universities across the U.S., including Texas A&M, UCLA, the University of Connecticut, Louisiana State University, The Florida State University, Saint Joseph’s University and the University of Missouri.

Students selected for the Reynolds and Reynolds Business Scholarship will receive an annual scholarship of $5,000 that is renewable for each year of their undergraduate education at Wright State.

“These two gifts promise to expand the impact of Reynolds and Reynolds on Wright State’s business students and on military veterans by inspiring entrepreneurial endeavors that form the basis for economic growth,” said Thomas Traynor, dean of the Raj Soin College of Business. “They also reaffirm and widen the commitment that Reynolds and Wright State have to the Greater Dayton region and its economy.”

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