Justine Riegel of Reading Gives Back to Champlain College

Area student helps Collect Largest Class Gift in Champlain History

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President David Finney accepts the Champlain College Class of 2010 gift from Anthony Enzor-DeMeo and Justine Riegel.

BURLINGTON, VT (05/20/2010)(readMedia)-- The Champlain College graduating class of 2010 has set the bar high for future classes with its record-setting class gift of $3,677. That amount was matched by other donors for a total gift of $5,195.

The funds will be given to two Champlain College scholarship funds:

• Support a Student fund that ensures that no qualified student is denied access to a Champlain education due to a lack of funds.

• New Americans Scholarship, a vital program that reaches out to Vermont refugee students.

President David F. Finney gave a warm thanks to class of 2010, "I have many friends in your class and I will you miss," he said, "but this is the nature of college and I know you are ready for what lies ahead." More than 500 Associate, Bachelor and Masters degrees were conferred to students early in May.

Seniors Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, a Computer and Digital Forensics major from West Hartford, CT, and Justine Riegel, a Public Relations major from Reading, PA, played instrumental roles in making the gift such a success. They reported that one out of three students from the 2010 class contributed to the gift.

According to Associate Director of Career Services Patricia Boera, a gift of that scale has never been given to Champlain from a graduating class. Boera said she was impressed by the leaderships skill exemplified by members of the class throughout their careers at the college.

Champlain College, a private, residential college founded in 1878, has a long tradition of educating professionals for leadership roles by providing a high-quality, career-oriented education. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2010. To learn more about Champlain College, www.champlain.edu.

With photo:

Champlain College President David F. Finney accepts the Class of 2010 gift from seniors Anthony Enzio-DeMeo and Justine Riegel earlier in May. Commencement was held on May 8 in Burlington, Vt.

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