Washington College Magazine
Recipients of the Hodson Trust Starr Scholarship—(from left) Wilhelm Gundlach, US Army; James Schelberg, USMC; and Charles Grigg, USMC—meet their benefactor, Finn Caspersen, Chairman of The Hodson Trust.
Veterans Graduate From Conflict To Classroom
Unlike the majority of their classmates fresh from high school, three members of the College's entering class have come to this cozy learning environment from the grim front lines of a protracted conflict in far-flung parts of the world.
Given the price they have paid in the war zone, they won't pay a cent for their college education. The Hodson Trust Starr Scholarships, established this summer, honor Maryland military personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal James H. Schelberg, of the 4th U.S. Marine Division's 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, recently returned from service in Haditha, in Iraq's Anbar Province—seat of the insurgent resistance and center of some of the fiercest hostility faced by coalition forces. Schelberg, who has some community college credits under his belt, enters WC as a freshman.
Arriving from the same Iraqi theater of operations is Corporal Charles P. Grigg, of the 4th Marine Division. Grigg, who attended Anne Arundel Community College prior to boot camp, enters WC as a junior.
Rounding out the veteran class is freshman Wilhelm Gundlach, a Psychological Operations Specialist with Detachment 900 of the U.S. Army's Airborne Rangers, who performed dangerous missions in Afghanistan.
The scholarships provided by The Hodson Trust meet 100 percent of the veterans' annual tuition, room, board, books and mandatory student fees not otherwise met by federal, state and outside assistance.
"We are delighted to be able to support these American stars, who have served our country in harm's way and now will contribute even more as they continue their education," said Finn Caspersen, Chairman of the Hodson Trust. "The Hodson Trust is proud of these first scholarship recipients and pleased to assist in repaying our country's debt to these fine servicemen."
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