Auction raises YSU scholarships for veterans

Youngstown State University football fans can support student veterans and win a customized Penguin jersey in the process by participating in the YSU Military Appreciation Jersey Auction for veteran scholarships.

Each of the top 80 bidders in the online event, which runs Sept. 1 through Nov. 4, will win a customized, game-worn Penguin jersey, produced by Under Armour exclusively for the auction.

“We have nearly 400 student veterans at YSU. Some have VA benefits, but unfortunately, some do not,” said Martyn Moss, ’88, project chair, a YSU alumnus and himself an Air Force veteran. “All funds raised through this initiative will help provide scholarships for those underfunded student veterans.”

The YSU Veterans Advisory Council is presenting the event, in collaboration with the YSU Athletic Department, the YSU Veterans Resource Center and the YSU Foundation. Stadium GM Super Store in Salem and ECA-IBEW Electricians Union are the event sponsors.

All auction proceeds will be added to the Veterans Resource Center Scholarship fund at the YSU Foundation. YSU alumnus and veteran Carl A. Nunziato established the endowment in 2015 to benefit veterans and family members that desire to earn a college degree at YSU.

Just over half of student veterans and eligible dependents at YSU are fully funded by Department of Defense or Veteran’s Administration benefits, said Rick Williams, coordinator of YSU’s Student Veterans Resource Center. That leaves 20 percent with partial funding and 26 percent with no funding at all.

“Our hope is to grow the scholarship endowment to a level that we could afford to help reduce the financial burden for more of these unfunded veteran and military-connected students,” Williams said.

Bidders who log onto the auction website for the first time will have the opportunity to choose a jersey number and to continue bidding on that jersey until the top bid is reached. Winning bidders will also get to choose the name that will be applied to their jerseys and worn Nov. 18 at the Penguin’s Military Appreciation game with Missouri State University.

For more information, or to start bidding, visit YSUjerseyauction.com or contact Moss, 330-941-3237 or mpmoss@ysu.edu.