Bemidji Mayor Lehmann proclaims April "BSU Scholarship Month"

BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Foundation’s annual spring scholarship drive was officially ushered in today when City of Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann signed a proclamation declaring the month of April “BSU Scholarship Month.”

The BSU Foundation kicked off its annual scholarship drive on Tuesday, April 1, to begin raising funds for academic and athletic scholarships at Bemidji State. More than 75 volunteers are canvassing the Bemidji community throughout the month asking businesses and individuals to support academic scholarships and Beaver Pride, a fundraising group that supports varsity intercollegiate athletics.

“Bemidji State University is a tremendous asset to the community,” Lehmann said. “We are always looking for anything we can do to take into consideration the people who are coming into our community to study and to learn, and to encourage people to help them out. As a person who went through Bemidji State and paid 100 percent, with no loans or grants or scholarships or anything, I can certainly appreciate people who are able to get scholarships.”

For Bemidji State, the proclamation is an important part of a larger effort to provide visibility for the scholarship drive to the residents and business owners in the Bemidji community.

“We wanted to be able to increase the community awareness and have a little higher profile for the scholarship drive this year,” said Lisa Hofstad, director of athletic development with the BSU Foundation. “We want to make sure people are aware of the scholarship drive before our volunteers make their way out into the community.”

The goal of the BSU Scholarship Drive is to raise $425,000.

Funds raised through the Academic Scholarship Drive support scholarships, academic programs, cultural programs and much more. Funds help meet the priority needs of the University and help encourage enrollment growth.

Funds raised through the Beaver Pride Membership Drive support scholarships for student-athletes participating in varsity intercollegiate athletics. Beaver Pride’s goal is to support Bemidji State’s intercollegiate athletic programs and to continue attracting quality student-athletes to BSU.

For more information on supporting the BSU Scholarship Drive, contact the BSU Foundation at (218) 755-2294.