Scholarship rewards student focus on ethics in business

Lititz residents Thomas and Suzan Hollinger have established a scholarship at the college which reinforces the need for ethical conduct in the business and corporate worlds.

The Ethics in Business Annual Scholarship is for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled or planning to enroll at Penn State Harrisburg who have a demonstrated need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses and who are majoring in a School of Business Administration program.

But the awarding of the annual scholarship comes with an interesting ingredient. Candidates for the scholarship will be required to write an essay demonstrating an understanding of ethical business conduct, the importance of a values-based approach, why they are committed to ethical conduct, and how they intend to integrate a valuesbased approach into their leadership style.

Thomas Hollinger, who holds both a bachelor's in Business and an MBA from Penn State Harrisburg, said, "For some time I've been speaking with Sue about a scholarship in the School of Business Administration. With recent headlines of violations of ethics in the business and corporate world, the timing just seemed right."

He continues, "The students (applying for the scholarship) have already shown they are deserving of the funds; the essay shows their level of serious thought about the issue of ethics in business. It will encourage them to reflect on the issues of values and integrity early on in their studies. And it will complement the school's curricular emphasis on ethical professional conduct."

"The scholarship will not only aid deserving students, but the application process will serve to raise the level of awareness of ethics," Hollinger, who works in the fields of data technology and management information systems, said. "With the impressive growth of Penn State Harrisburg, the scholarship seemed important to Sue and me."