Scholarship created in memory of 1st BC3 faculty member
A scholarship in memory of the first faculty member at Butler County Community College, John Bacon, will be among six scholarships that will debut in the 2023-24 academic year, making a total of 155 named financial awards available to students.
Students registered in fall 2023 credit programs can apply for a scholarship until July 1, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, development coordinator of the BC3 Education Foundation, which distributed 148 named financial awards and a record $292,123 to BC3 students in the 2022-23 academic year.
Bacon was the son of an Indiana County coal miner who received a scholarship from the National Science Foundation, earned a master’s degree at the Pennsylvania State University and was the first faculty member hired at BC3.
His four children have established a memorial scholarship in their father’s name that is among the six new financial awards available to BC3 students this fall.
Bacon was hired as an associate professor and leader of the science department two months before the college opened in September 1966. Over the next two decades he helped the college to establish programs in nursing, metrology, electronic technology and computer data processing.
Bacon “was responsible for all of the applied science programming,” Thomas TenHoeve said of BC3’s associate degree career programs, which numbered 17 by the time Bacon retired in 1985 as assistant to the president and chairman of BC3’s technical department.
TenHoeve served from 1970 to 1984 as BC3’s second president.
Bacon “was absolutely essential,” TenHoeve said. “He was the standard-bearer. He stood for high quality and excellence in performance. And an ongoing commitment to learning.”
“He was involved with establishing the entire curriculum,” David Huseman, a BC3 professor and the college’s longest-serving employee at 56 years, said. “That all had to be done by scratch.”
Bacon also served at BC3 as division head of vocational and technical arts, as the college’s assistant dean of instruction and as director of institutional research and management information systems.
A scholarship created by Bacon’s four children — David, of Gibsonia; Daniel and James, of Butler; and Kate, of Blairsville, Indiana County; all of whom earned associate degrees from BC3 — will be awarded for the first time July 31, Cornetti said.
Bacon’s granddaughters Kristina Zapf, of Aspinwall, and Stephanie DaDamo, of Gibsonia, also contributed to the scholarship.
“We thought it would be a good way to honor him,” David Bacon said. “He would be very proud of something like that. Education was very important to him. We thought it would be a good way to carry on his memory, especially with BC3, because he was always very excited about his job at BC3.”
The World War II veteran, former Sunday school teacher and Christian-based summer camp director passed away in December 2020 at age 95 in Cabot.
“He was always kind of a teacher, and not only by trade,” David Bacon said. “That’s just the way he was. He taught us well. When he was growing up, his family helped to take care of a lot of less-fortunate people around them. That’s kind of where he came from.”
By creating a scholarship, David Bacon said he and his siblings are “encouraging people who may not have the means to continue their education to do so.”
The John W. Bacon Memorial Scholarship is among 52 financial awards created by BC3 alumni, or in memory or in honor of BC3 alumni, Cornetti said.
Full-time students enrolled in BC3’s nursing programs, or in programs within the college’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics division, are eligible to apply for the John W. Bacon Memorial Scholarship.
Businesses, college employees, fraternal organizations, nonprofit organizations and private individuals join BC3 alumni as those who have created scholarships administered by the BC3 Education Foundation.
Other financial awards available to BC3 students for the first time this fall are the Butler County Memorial Hospital Nurses’ Alumnae Association Scholarship, the Marlen Lang Business Scholarship, the Michael Moretti Family Scholarship, the Charles W. Dunaway Pioneer Scholarship and the Nadine Stewart ’00 Nursing Scholarship.
Registered students can complete one application at bc3.edu/scholarships. Registered students selected to receive scholarships will be notified by July 31.
Students enrolled in an associate degree, certificate or workplace certificate program who meet scholarship criteria are eligible to receive a financial award, Cornetti said. Students attending any of the college’s six locations, enrolled in online courses or in the new virtual programs can apply for a financial award, Cornetti said.
Scholarships, BC3’s cost and financial aid allowed 75% percent of the school’s class of 2023 to graduate debt-free.
Financial awards in 2023-24 range from $300 to $5,000, Cornetti said, and average $500.
Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
