For immediate release: April 21, 2011

BLOOMSBURG — An anonymous $100,000 gift to the Bloomsburg University Foundation will further international education and the mission of a global organization based at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Global Awareness Society International (GASI), a non-profit academic and professional organization, was established in 1991 to promote peace by fostering understanding and mutual respect through multicultural and global education.

Founder and retired BU Professor Chang Shub Roh leads the organization, assisted by vice chair James Pomfret, also a retired BU professor and current member of the Bloomsburg University Foundation Board of Directors.

The anonymous gift establishes the Dr. and Mrs. Chang Shub Roh and Family Global Awareness Scholarship Fund which will encourage BU students to prepare abstracts and make presentations at GASI's annual conferences, held at locations worldwide.

Two previously established scholarship funds have been incorporated into the Roh family award, Pomfret explained.

"We believe strongly in providing opportunities that help students increase their understanding of others in our global society," said BU President David Soltz, keynote speaker for GASI's 2010 conference in Poland. "This gift underscores the important role the Global Awareness Society plays in promoting a culture of peace and international cooperation."

Next month, five BU students and 10 students from other universities will make presentations at GASI's conference in Puerto Rico. "We try to be a place where students can make their first academic presentations in a supportive atmosphere," Pomfret said.

"The purpose is to encourage and expose faculty and students to multiple issues in global education and research in order to create a humane community of peace in the world," Roh said. "Multicultural education teaches students to respect other people, appreciate other cultures and understand one another. It creates world peace."

For information on contributing to the Roh family scholarship or establishing an endowed scholarship, contact the Bloomsburg University Foundation at (570) 389-4524 or see www.bloomufdn.org.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 9,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Education, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.