March 25, 2002 SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) -- Susquehanna University has received a $500,000 grant from the Degenstein Foundation to establish the Janet C. Weis Endowment for Liberal Arts. The endowment will support new and expanded initiatives such as a Visiting Writers' Residency, which will attract nationally and internationally prominent poets, novelists and essayists for extended stays on campus. Visiting scholars will teach courses, give lectures and hold student conferences. A scholarship fund will be created to recruit and retain outstanding writing majors. Three magazines now published by the writing program - The Susquehanna Review, Essay, and The Apprentice Writer - will be enhanced and distributed to a wider audience, increasing exposure for students' writing and raising visibility for the program. Funds will also provide opportunities for Susquehanna's creative writing faculty to participate in readings, workshops and conferences across the country. "We are deeply grateful for this opportunity to commemorate Janet Weis' deep and abiding commitment to literature and the arts," said University President Jay Lemons. "The generosity of the Degenstein Foundation will be especially helpful in positioning Susquehanna University's Writers' Institute as one of the best undergraduate writing programs in the country." Through the leadership of director Gary Fincke, the Writers' Institute has brought more than 100 nationally recognized writers to Susquehanna, including the Poet Laureate of the United States, Billy Collins, along with Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners. Students have been accepted to the most highly acclaimed graduate writing programs in the country and have garnered prestigious assistantships and fellowships. Susquehanna students also publish in national magazines and compete successfully for places in national workshops. The March 15 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, a national publication covering higher education, featured Susquehanna students and faculty in a lead story about the growing popularity of creative writing as a major across U.S. college and university campuses. Contact: Betsy Robertson 570-372-4119 #bkr/2186/#