Focus on Community

Supporting scholarships has been the most popular way for York College friends and family to participate in the EVOLVE Campaign. That holds true for two relatively new trustees who are both alumni of the College. But they have added a twist to recognize something that is characteristic of York College. They are funding scholarships for students who give back to the community.

Jackson Community Hope Scholarship

“VP of Development Troy Miller recognized what is important to us,” said Kevin Jackson MBA ’99. “He helped pull it all together—family, education, community involvement.”

The Jackson Community Hope Scholarship supports a student who has shown a commitment to exemplary community service, especially as it relates to equity in education. The recipient, chosen as a rising sophomore from among the York College Changemakers, will receive a three-year scholarship in the amount of $2,000 per year. Students will apply for the Jackson Community Hope Scholarship in their second semester of their first year, and from among those applicants, the Center for Community Engagement staff will choose one exemplary applicant to receive the scholarship. It will recognize their engagement in this work, their positivity and its influence upon the youth of our community, and as a demonstration of the recipient’s future leadership potential.

“This is also my way to give back to the community that helped bring me along,” said Jackson, who grew up blocks away from York College on West Maple Street. As a young kid, he spent a lot of time on campus, playing basketball and arcade machines in the student union. “I always had a love for York College growing up. This scholarship is one of the ways that my wife and I could put the Jackson name on it, have some legacy, and give back.”

Jackson’s wife, Anika, is Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Family First Health in York. As a couple, they are very committed to lifting up those from their community. Anika serves as a Her Traditions Advisory Board Member for York Traditions Bank; as a board member of the Memorial Health Fund for the York County Community Foundation; as a board member of the York Academy Regional Charter School; and as an in-class volunteer for Junior Achievement of South Central PA.

Kevin Jackson is also a popular speaker at schools, colleges, and businesses. His speaking engagement fees are used to give back to the community, to purchase things like school supplies. His family—Anika and his son—participate when he offers talks.

“I am one of first guys in the neighborhood to go to college, come out, and get a good job,” Jackson said. “I did the right things, came back, and lived in the community. I now have a responsibility on my shoulders to be a mentor to those who look up to me and inspire them to do the right thing, too.”

The Katie Leonard Community Advancement Scholarship Fund

After graduating from York College in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in English, Katie Leonard, Ed.D., stayed in York and went on to hold multiple positions working with government officials and nonprofit organizations, including serving as the Executive Director of Downtown Inc.

“I had a wonderful experience at York College,” she said. “That positive experience is the main reason I decided to stay in York for several years after graduation. I enjoyed getting involved in the community and saw the College as a big piece of that.”

A desire to maintain and enhance the robust and beneficial relationship between the College and the local community led her to establish The Katie Leonard Community Advancement Scholarship Fund. “For me, this scholarship represents how the College and community are one—how the community can enrich the York College experience for students and how York College students can enhance the York community,” she said.

Currently a trustee of York College, Leonard is President and CEO of Johnson College, a private, two-year technical college in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She joined Johnson in January 2007 as the Coordinator of Grants and Annual Fund. Her continued success in fundraising and community outreach led to several positions within the College, leading up to her becoming Executive Vice President and overseeing all campus operations.

Her biography reads, “In her time with the College, Dr. Leonard formed industry relationships, reestablished the alumni program, increased annual giving, and initiated the College’s rebranding in 2011. She executed the College’s first-ever capital campaign in 2013, which raised, comprehensively, over $5 million to build the new Health Science Technology Center on campus, the College’s largest building project to date. After a nationwide search, Dr. Leonard was selected Johnson College’s 8th President & CEO in January of 2018.”

York College and Johnson College signed an articulation agreement in 2022 that allows students to complete their two-year degree at Johnson College and then transfer to York College to complete a bachelor’s degree, or transfer credits and continue their education.

The Katie Leonard Community Advancement Scholarship Fund will support a student who has shown a commitment to engaging in research and activities that address an important community need. Students selected will receive either a three-year scholarship for $2,000 per year or a $2,000 stipend to advance a project through work over the summers following their first, sophomore, and junior years. Recipients will be chosen from among students in the Engaged Scholars Honors Community. Students will be invited to apply in the second semester of their first year, and from among those applicants, the Center for Community Engagement staff will choose one exemplary applicant to receive the scholarship or project stipend.

The Stabler Department of Nursing at York College, part of the Dr. Donald E. and Lois J. Myers School of Nursing and Health Professions, will offer an Accelerated Baccalaureate Nursing Program beginning in July 2023, thanks to support from a generous donor.

The Department has been considering adding an accelerated second degree program for the past few years, according to Stacy Lutter, Department Chair. In March 2021, a committee reviewed “research studies and competitor programs, got buy-in from faculty, and came up with a program that everyone was comfortable with,” she said.

At that time, the program unfortunately had to remain on hold until significant financial support could be found to get it off the ground. The opportunity to both fill a gap in the College’s Nursing curriculum and also address a critical shortage of nurses in the community made the program particularly attractive to Dianne “Danny” Thornton, a former resident of York and supporter of the College.

She and a gift officer from the College “started talking about an accelerated Nursing program, and I jumped on it because it is exactly the type of program I wanted to support.” Not only did Thornton agree to provide funding for all start-up costs, she also committed to five years of sustaining support.

Thornton was raised in a family of health providers. It was natural that she choose the same path. “I grew up in medicine,” she said. “My father, his two brothers, and my grandfather all were physicians in our city. My mother and her sister were both registered nurses.”

After earning her B.S. in Nursing from the University of Vermont in 1961, she spent her career working in York, where she married her husband, George, shortly after graduation. She was employed by York Hospital, self-employed within the Hospital, and more recently worked in a private physicians’ practice. She was the second woman elected to the York Hospital Board of Directors.

Now a resident of Naples, Florida, Thornton has remained connected to the York community since her departure eight years ago following the death of her husband. In addition to her involvement with York Hospital, she has also held a longtime interest in York College, where she served on the Women’s Auxiliary Board.

“George and I always thought that York was the kind of town that needed and would support a York College,” she said.

Directed by Associate Professor of Nursing Kelli Masters, the Thornton Accelerated Nursing Program will be a 17-month program for those who already have a bachelor’s degree and have completed prerequisite coursework.

“I’m very excited to be involved with the development of our Accelerated Nursing program,” Masters said. “We now have the opportunity to educate a unique student population for professional nursing practice. By developing highly qualified and competent nurses, we can support our colleagues as they address current challenges in the profession, such as nurse burnout and the nursing shortage.”

York College’s accelerated program is directed at students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing discipline and/or completed at least 65 non-nursing college credits. “This program will diversify our student enrollment and will help prepare individuals with backgrounds outside of nursing to enter practice as registered nurses,” said Lutter. “We hope that creating this new pipeline will impact the nursing shortage seen in York County and the surrounding areas.”

Where will York most likely get students for this program? There’s no other college in the immediate area that offers a similar program other than Penn StateHarrisburg. Lutter is also “hopeful that our alumni base will step forward. We have a good reputation with non-Nursing alumni who might be interested in making a career change and filling a need in the community.”

Ultimately, the program is designed for “those who performed well academically—and not necessarily someone who majored in sciences. Ideal students are motivated, resilient, and excited about making a career change. We need students who can implement best practices in patient care and are committed to working with diverse populations.”

For Thornton, supporting the program seemed natural. “I left my Massachusetts home for college when I was 17. I lived my entire adult life in York; it’s my hometown, if you think about it. I wanted to give back to York, and helping to ensure well-qualified nurses were available to the York community seemed ideal to me.”

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