Fall 2008

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Foreman Scholarship Honors Students Who Volunteer

Justin Saenz (left) meets with Dana and Martha Robes who established the Fred Foreman Scholarship for Growth in Leadership Participation to encourage students to volunteer, especially in college recruitment. Saenz, a sophomore in animal science and preveterinary medicine, is one of the inaugural recipients of the award.

Student leaders in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences don't get paid for their volunteer work recruiting for the college, leading student clubs or planning events. But their efforts are not going unnoticed. These students aren't looking for recognition; they gladly volunteer their free time to make the college its best. However, a new scholarship is rewarding their efforts.

A gift from Dana and Martha Robes of Round Pond, Maine, has established the Fred Foreman Scholarship for Growth in Leadership Participation to recognize the top volunteers and encourage new students to volunteer, particularly in college recruitment. They hope the program inspires students to volunteer to earn a place within the premier program.

The Robes also are honoring Foreman, an emeritus professor of dairy science, who Dana Robes ('67 dairy science) had as a professor while at Iowa State. They hope this scholarship will help recruit and retain the most outstanding student leaders and volunteers not only from Iowa, but from other states as well.

One component of scholarship criteria will be participation in recruitment for the college, so students who serve as College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Ambassadors may have an edge. But the scholarship program isn't limited to just those in the student recruitment group.

As part of the Foreman program, the 20 student leaders who do the most to recruit on behalf of the college each year will receive scholarships. The top five students receive an award of $5,000 each, and 15 other select student leaders and recruiters will receive $1,000 each. These awards are renewable for up to two years if, after annual evaluation, the students remain among the top leaders. The scholarship is available to students in their sophomore year and higher.

Justin Saenz, a sophomore in animal science and preveterinary medicine, from Kenedy, Texas, is a college ambassador and one of the five inaugural recipients of the highest Foreman award.

"I am very involved here at Iowa State, so between classwork and activities my time is spread very thin. I have given some thought to cutting back on my activities, but I couldn't make up my mind on which ones to give up," Saenz says. "The Foreman scholarship helped me decide to stay with Ag Ambassadors, but the biggest reason I'm still involved is the fact that I love serving my college."

Saenz plans to continue his education at the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine and pursue his dream of opening a clinic specializing in swine medicine.