Zeta Tau Psi’s President Thomas Ingram (‘09) is starting a scholarship that will be funded from money collected right here on campus. The scholarship money will go toward helping multiple students purchase their books for the semester, starting next spring.

The Zeta Tau Psi Book Scholarship will initially be for first-year students, but will eventually be available to students of all years.

“The goal is to be able to open it up to more than just first-year students because other students have trouble buying books too,” Ingram said.

Ingram’s inspiration for the scholarship came from his own experiences.

“Sometimes students can’t afford their books and it can hold them back,” he said. “I’ve been in that position before where I had to run around looking for a book to borrow.”

Ingram is working with Student Support Services and the Diversity Center to promote the scholarship. Although he’ll be graduating this spring, he still plans to work with Zeta Tau Psi to keep the scholarship running next year.

Ingram is excited to get the scholarship up and running. He knows that tuition keeps on rising, and he doesn’t think that should stop anyone from receiving an education. He believes that this scholarship will help at least a few students lower their costs.

“One day I was thinking about college cost,” he said. “There are so many scholarships out there that people can apply for and they just don’t do it. It is something that is so simple that people forget about.”

The idea behind the scholarship involves students helping students. Zeta Tau Psi members will be going door-to-door on campus May 8 and 9 to collect donations from students. Ingram hopes that students will contribute at least 50 cents toward the scholarship.

“A student’s small contribution can make a big impact on somebody’s life,” Ingram said. “50 cents can go towards someone’s $200 biology book. Even broke students can give 50 cents.”

If every Luther student contributed 50 cents, the scholarship could be upwards of $1200, which is plenty of money to help a few first-years buy their spring semester books.

“All that matters is the contribution,” Ingram said.

Zeta Tau Psi was started in 2006 and has since made itself a presence in the Luther Greek System. The fraternity promotes the values of respect, dignity, integrity and leadership. The application process for the scholarship would involve writing an essay that focuses on leadership qualities.

If students miss the door-to-door collections, they can send donations to Ingram’s SPO 1127. Questions about the scholarship can be emailed to Ingram at ingrth01.