|
 There
was hardly a dry eye in the place after Herb and Miyuki Scheidel
finished announcing a million-dollar gift to UNF to provide
scholarships at the Pace Center for Girls in Jacksonville.
In an emotional ceremony for both the donors, the recipients
and the guests, Herb Scheidel explained his motivation for
making the gift to the center. "We visited the Pace Center
and found out about the wonderful work they are doing with
the girls," he said. "It's a fantastic thing to be able to
offer that kind of opportunity to girls who've had a tough
row to hoe."
The word "opportunity" pops up often when Scheidel talks
about endowing scholarships. As in: "Students get an opportunity
to get an education. The burden is on them to do their part.
If you can get into school and stay, the education is there
for the taking."
Herb Scheidel was asked why he and his wife chose UNF to
receive these major gifts. "It's just a great school," he
said. "Jacksonville has a wonderful asset in UNF. And it's
getting better and better all the time." This is the second
$1 million endowment created at UNF by the Scheidels in the
last three years.
"The generosity of Herb and Miyuki Scheidel continues to
make higher education accessible for some very deserving students,"
said UNF President Anne Hopkins. "To make gifts of this magnitude
twice within such a short period of time is truly remarkable.
I want to say thank you to the Scheidels for all that they
have done both for this University and for our community."
The Pace Center for Girls was established in 1985. The center,
which is on University Boulevard in Arlington, works with
girls from ages 13 to 18 who have been identified as at-risk.
The Pace Center offers an alternative-education program which
addresses the issues that cause the girls to be labeled as
at-risk. The program's goals are to prevent juvenile delinquency
and teen pregnancy and to keep students from dropping out
of school. There are currently 80 girls enrolled at the center.
The Scheidels were so pleased with the progress the initial
group of Scheidel scholars are making at UNF, they looked
at different organizations from which to draw potential scholarship
recipients for this second endowment. The Miyuki and Herbert
Scheidel Scholars Program will also fund scholarships for
students who live in houses constructed by Habitat for Humanity
of St. Augustine and scholarships for classical music students.
All students have the option of taking a course offered in
a foreign country using money from the Scheidel Endowment
Fund. The classical music students must maintain a 3.0 or
better GPA throughout their college career to maintain their
scholarships.
Miyuki Scheidel, who has had a life-long love of music, came
up with the idea for creating the music scholarship. When
she was young, the only instrument she could afford was a
flute but she was unable to pay for lessons. Through the music
scholarship, she wants to provide the educational opportunity
she couldn't afford in her youth.
The Scheidel's gift focused on funding scholarships for students
who live in Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach or Atlantic
Beach in a home constructed by the Jacksonville Beaches affiliate
of Habitat for Humanity. Those scholarships will continue
under the enhanced endowment. Herb Scheidel is actively involved
in the Beaches Habitat affiliate. As was the case with the
original gift, Fletcher High School graduates who meet the
financial-need criteria are also a potential source of scholarship
students.
Herb Scheidel, 60, is the chairman, president and chief executive
officer of Learning Technologies Ltd., a company that provides
educational products for teaching English to Asian children
and adults. He met his wife, Miyuki, while working for the
company in Japan. Learning Technologies Ltd. has offices in
Tokyo, Taipei and Hong Kong.
UNF will apply for state matching funds that can add an additional
$750,000 to the Scheidels' gift, which will be part of UNF's
Pathways to Success Program. The six-year-old program provides
scholarship opportunities and continuing University support
for economically-disadvantaged high school students.
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