|
Roothbert
Fund Scholarships
| The Application Process | Renewal
of Grants
Fostering Fellowship | Carl T.
Solberg Award
The
Roothbert Fund was created in 1958 by Albert and Toni Roothbert
to help men and women in need of financial aid to further
their education. The principal focus of The Fund is its Scholarships
Program, through which it makes grants for undergraduate or
graduate study at accredited colleges or universities. Scholarships
may only be applied to study at an accredited institution
based in the United States. The Fund seeks candidates who
are "motivated by spiritual values," and works to
foster fellowship among them.
The Fund is a small, nearly all-volunteer scholarship fund
based in New York City, which awards yearly grants and works
to foster fellowship among grant recipients. Once a year,
the Fund accepts applications for grants, which include essays,
transcripts and recommendations. From these written applications,
the Fund identifies a group of finalists to be invited for
a brief personal interview. On the basis of this interview,
the Fund typically selects about 20 new scholarship recipients
each year.
Eligibility:
Roothbert Fund scholarships are open to all in the United
States regardless of sex, age, color, nationality or religious
background. While the Fund does not emphasize any particular
form of religious practice or worship, it seeks to provide
support to persons motivated by spiritual values. The Fund
has awarded grants to persons entering a wide range of careers.
However, preference will be given to those who can satisfy
high scholastic requirements and are considering careers in
education. For more information, applicants should read with
care the Founders Prologue
in the History and Mission of the Fund.
Location of Applicants: As a rule, The Roothbert Fund does not make Scholarship Grants EXCEPT to applicants whose current or permanent address is located in one of the following States of the United States and applicants planning to move to one of such States prior to March 1 of the year in which the application is made: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, or North Carolina. It is probably counter-productive to submit an application if you live outside this area.
Size
of grants: Grants are small (averaging $2,000-$3,000)
and are meant to be supplementary. Aid is given for the ensuing
school year.
VERY
IMPORTANT--BEFORE YOU CONSIDER APPLYING: Please note that
applicant interviews are scheduled on extremely short notice
in March and are held in New York, New Haven, Philadelphia
and Washington, DC. The Fund will not pay any transportation
charges or other costs of applicants who are invited to be
interviewed. Persons who live at a significant distance from
these cities should reconsider submitting an application,
if the expense and time required to travel to any of those
cities would be unduly burdensome. No grant is awarded by
the Fund without a personal interview. However, submitting
an application does not guarantee being invited for an interview,
and being invited for an interview does not guarantee a scholarship.
In
making a decision to apply, applicants should also keep in
mind that if they are awarded a grant, they will be obligated
to attend at least one weekend fellowship conference sponsored
by the Fund during the first year on grant.
Obtaining
an application: Because of its staff limitations, the
Fund designates a three-month period from November 1 to January
31 each year in which printed applications forms are made
available. Because forms are revised each year, applicants
are discouraged from copying forms that may be on file with
financial aid offices, or have been saved from prior years.
Requests
by individuals for application forms should be directed to the Fund after
November 1 for the ensuing academic year. The form includes
requests for autobiographical essays, supporting transcripts
and letters of recommendation.
To obtain a copy of the current
application form, submit a written request with a stamped,
self-addressed envelope to The Roothbert Fund, Inc., 475 Riverside
Drive, Room 1830, New York, NY 10115,
or you may download a
current copy of the form here between November 1 and January
31.
Interviews:
After the application forms are received, some candidates
will be invited to an interview with the Scholarships Committee.
The Fund does not make grants to applicants who are not invited
to be interviewed. Interviews are held during March of each
year at Fund headquarters in New York City and currently also
in Washington, DC, New Haven, and Philadelphia. Before entering
the competition, each applicant should consider carefully
whether he or she can arrange to be present for such an interview
and must affirm on the application form his or her intention
to be present for an interview, if invited. The Fund does
NOT reimburse applicants' travel or other expenses
incurred in the interview process.
Announcement
date: Awards are announced in late April. Grants are mailed
to the grantees' institutions in August.
Terms
of acceptance: Acceptance of an award obligates the recipient
to:
•
maintain
a high standard of work and conduct,
•
have transcripts
sent to the Fund by his or her school after each semester,
•
attend at
least one weekend fellowship meeting,
•
keep a close
relationship with the Fund through correspondence and visits,
and
•
advise the
Fund promptly of any change in his or her academic or financial
situation.
Every
award is subject to revocation if, in the opinion of the Fund,
the holder fails to live up to these requirements.
Renewals of grants are considered in the light of achievements
during the previous year. Fellows seeking a renewal must complete
and submit the Fund's renewal application by February 1, accompanied
by transcripts for the current year. Renewal announcements
are made in late April, at the same time as new awards are
announced. Because funds are limited, the Roothbert Fund typically
supports Fellows during the pursuit of one academic degree
program only.
Roothbert
Fellows can read more about the renewal process in the section
For Roothbert Fellows.
(Note: this section requires a password; see
information.)
Men and women now
or formerly on stipend are called Roothbert Fellows. In their
first year on grant, new Fellows must attend a weekend meeting
at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study center in a wooded setting
outside of Philadelphia (dates in June and September to be
announced each year). This event is an informal retreat, typically
led by a former grant recipient, on a theme that permits Fellows
to explore and discuss an important issue while getting to
know one another better. Fellows are encouraged to attend
Pendle Hill gatherings whenever possible, as well as informal
get-togethers that are held occasionally in New York and other
cities.
Fellows
who have completed their studies are eligible to apply to
the Roothbert Fund for seed funding for service projects.
(See information on Fellows'
Projects in About the Fund.)
In addition to its regular scholarships, the Fund has
established the Carl T. Solberg Award. Candidates do not
apply directly for this award. Rather the Fund may, when
appropriate, identify an individual from among the year?s
pool of applicants who seems to exemplify the attributes associated
with the award.
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Carl
T. Solberg
|
The Solberg Award
was created by the Fund to honor Carl Solberg for his service,
his guidance and his dedication. In 1996, Carl T. Solberg
retired as President of the Fund. At the time, Carl had given
nearly 40 years of service to the Fund beginning by consulting
with the founders about its very inception. Since then he
has provided not only continuity but also the enormous energy
and tireless commitment that have enabled this remarkable
enterprise to survive far beyond the mission originally envisioned
by Albert and Toni Roothbert. Carl continues to contribute
to the Fund as its Secretary and as "chief fanner of the flame"
of fellowship among the nearly 1000 fellows who have benefited
from the founders' generous vision.
By vocation, Carl
was a journalist whose career at Time, Inc. included stints
on the Latin America desk and the Middle East desk at Time
magazine and at Time-Life Books. During the Time years he
contributed cover stories on many political leaders including
David Ben Gurion, Gamal Abdul Nasser, Harold MacMillan and
Nikita Khrushchev. Later, as a freelancer, Carl wrote, among
other things, books on the Cold War, the politics of oil,
a history of American aviation, a biography of his fellow
Minnesotan, Hubert H. Humphrey, and an account of his experiences
during World War II with Admiral William Halsey in the Battle
of Leyte Gulf in the South Pacific.
The Carl Solberg
Award is funded not by capital left by the founders, but by
a special account established for that purpose with donations
from over 100 Roothbert Fellows. The authorizing resolution
provides that the Award will be given from time to time to
students of history or journalism who demonstrate the diversity
of interests and the breadth of mind that characterize Carl
Solberg, or students who have rendered unusual service to
the Fund, and who otherwise exhibit those characteristics
that typify the Roothbert Fellow. The first Solberg Award
was granted in 1998.
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