A Legacy Honoring Excellence

A transformational gift from Stephen J. Jones ’83, and his wife, Melanie Sanchez-Jones, will enrich the Honors College experience for Commonwealth University (CU) students by expanding scholarships, experiential learning opportunities, and faculty support. 

The $5.6 million endowment is the largest gift to date benefiting students across all CU locations, Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield. Combined with a previous $1.5 million gift supporting the renovation of the Honors College residence hall on the CU–Bloomsburg campus, the new gift brings the couple’s investment in the CU honors experience to more than $7 million, enabling the integrated university to attract and retain bright students from diverse backgrounds into the CU Honors College community.

In recognition of the couple’s generosity, the CU Honors College will be named the Eileen G. Jones Honors College, in honor of Jones’ late mother.

To grow the Honors College and continue to offer small classes, student support, engaging opportunities and grants and scholarships, honors relies on donor support.
– John D. Hintz, Interim Dean of Honors and Interdisciplinary Studies

“I wanted to name the Honors College after my mother because of the positive influence she had on my life and my siblings’ lives,” explains Jones, a first-generation college graduate. “She really pushed education. When we started going to school, my mother was a big influence on making sure we aspired to do better and did our homework and all those things. She was a big support throughout my life.”

Eileen Jones unfortunately passed away at the young age of 52, but her legacy of support and encouragement for education will continue through the CU Honors College named in her honor. CU’s Honors College welcomes high-achieving students and prepares them for leadership through high-impact, immersive experiences, and academically rigorous coursework. 

“I can say with confidence that a substantial portion of the gift will be used for scholarships and grants for our students. Increasing affordable faculty-led study abroad opportunities for honors students is also a high priority,” says John G. Hintz, interim dean of honors and interdisciplinary studies at CU–Bloomsburg. 

Enhancing the Honors experience 

Although Bloomsburg University, the CU legacy institution Jones attended, did not yet have an Honors College in the early 1980s—in fact it was founded in 1985, just two years after his graduation—Jones was able to create community as a student through his closely-knit fraternity, Sigma Iota Omega, where he forged friendships that continue today.

“That was an important part of my time at Bloomsburg,” says Jones of the fraternity of which he served as vice president and then president. CU’s Honors College provides a similar sense of belonging for like-minded students who have big dreams for the future and also want to contribute to their communities in the present—volunteer service is a key component of the Honors
College experience.

As a student, Jones also had the opportunity to study abroad, and is delighted to support professional experience grants (PEGS) for similar opportunities through this gift.

“What really impacted me was going abroad. I went to Liverpool, England, and it was eye-opening. I realized there was a whole other world out there,” Jones says. He knows there are many college students like him who may not have been outside of the United States or even Pennsylvania, and the Honors College gives students the chance to expand their cultural and personal boundaries through just this type of experience. Since his time in Liverpool, Jones has earned an MBA from Temple University and a law degree from University of Pennsylvania, lived in China, and done plenty of international traveling for business.

“That’s also part of experiential learning that the Honors College wants to provide to students,” he adds. “There’s a big world out there, and there are lots of opportunities.”

He hopes the financial support will lead more students to capitalize on the chance to dive into high-impact experiences without worrying about funding; from studying abroad to taking an internship or assisting with faculty research, he said, “Those types of activities for students help them realize what their potential is.”

Jones is also pleased his gift will increase scholarship funding for Honors students across CU, easing the financial toll on gifted students and making CU an attractive choice for their educational journey.

Hintz noted the increased support for Honors students, and for scholarships in particular, helps to bring CU closer to achieving its ambitious recruitment and retention goals, including an increase in honors students across campus populations, set out by CU President Bashar W. Hanna.

“President Hanna would like us to increase enrollment in Honors to the point where we sustain an enrollment equivalent to ten percent of the undergraduate student population. This aligns with the scholarly literature on proven best practices within large Honors Colleges,” Hintz says. “The Jones gift will help in this regard immensely, and in so many other ways.”

Strengthening the value of a CU degree is important to Jones, who understands affordability is a significant consideration for prospective students, just as it was for him.

This story appears in the summer 2024 issues of Commonwealth University magazines.