Scholarship established at Penn State Beaver will benefit LGBTQA community

A photo of Scott Noxon wearing a grey jacket and yellow tie.

Penn State alumnus Scott Noxon has created a new scholarship to assist students who advocate for, or contribute to, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally (LGBTQA) community.

Credit: Contributed

MONACA, Pa. — A Robinson Township man has funded the first-ever scholarship for Penn State Beaver students who advocate for, or contribute to, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally (LGBTQA) community.

Scott Noxon, a 1984 Penn State graduate, has created a $50,000 endowment that will be the first of its kind to benefit LGBTQA students at a Penn State Commonwealth Campus.

Consideration for the scholarship will be given to current or incoming Penn State Beaver undergraduates who have achieved superior academic records or manifest promise of outstanding academic success and who advocate for, or contribute to, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally community.

Noxon — who also endows a scholarship for a student who is doing something to improve the world around him or her — said he wanted to establish another scholarship for a demographic he feels connected to. He said he also feels a connection with the Beaver campus after going through a difficult senior year of high school.

“I had a chance to make friends with new people,” he said, adding that the campus became a “home away from home.

“Penn State Beaver is grateful to Scott Noxon for establishing this innovative scholarship,” Penn State Beaver Chancellor Jenifer Cushman said. “It is one more example of his generosity to the campus and our students over the years, and we are happy to have the honor of stewarding his gift.”

This gift will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.