Annual Dinner and Golf Outing supports students in the McClure School

After 22 years, the Thomas Lonsbury Scholarship Event is still going strong in support of J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies students. The event was started in 2002 by Thomas Lonsbury, a passionate golfer who was a member of the McClure School advisory board. This year’s event was held on Sept. 19 and 20. Forty five people attended the formal dinner and 60 people participated in the golf outing, raising roughly $25,000.

“It was tremendously successful,” said McClure School Director Chip Linscott. “Along with our amazing students and highly accomplished faculty, the alumni board is the heart and soul of the McClure School. Historically, our alums support the school with their generous donations, but they also keep us on the cutting edge by mentoring our students from the classroom to the boardroom.”

The J. Warren McClure School Advisory Board Thomas Lonsbury Scholarship is available to McClure school students who are active in the field of voice/data networks, have a minimum 3.25 GPA, and have completed at least 12 credit hours in the major.

“In any community, it is important to give back,” said Thomas Lonsbury Memorial Scholarship Event Director Nick Lathrop. “It is our alumni and industries way of showing support for community, for students, and for our industry.”

“Many of our advisory board members received scholarships from the same event over the intervening decades,” said Linscott. “As Nick said, they (board members) want to give back. A university education opens the door to a fantastic variety of opportunities for our students. We would like to give our majors in the McClure School as much financial assistance as possible.”

Senior Eli George, who is an Information and Telecommunication major from Canal Winchester, OH, received the scholarship for this academic year.

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“I think it was very generous to be given this award, and I truly appreciate it,” said George. “Being able to receive this sort of aid makes the burden on my end easier because I do not have to worry as much about my financial situation. I can focus on my studies and time on campus.”

George says the scholarship is one very important way the college has supported his pursuit of an ITS degree, but there are other supports as well.

“I really enjoy the faculty in the ITS program. They are really good and supportive of me,” said George. “I think the fact that they make sure to teach the business side of ITS in the program provides a targeted focus for students to apply for jobs. The major stays up with current with technology and trends, and that makes it a valuable major for students.”

George participates in student organizations like the Bobcat Network Innovation Center and the Ohio University Game Developer’s Association. He is considering getting his cybersecurity certificate and is interested in pursuing a career as a computer network architect, where he would design and deploy computer and information networks, or a network administrator, where he would secure, maintain and troubleshoot computer networks. 

The McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies strives to offer the best academic programs in the IT (Information Technology), game development and Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) industries. Our programs and certificates cover numerous aspects of the rapidly changing industries of information networking, cybersecurity, data privacy, game development, digital animation and the academic side of esports.

To make a donation to the Thomas Lonsbury Scholarship visit this link.