The Pio Cardinal Laghi Founders Award
for Outstanding Support to Bethlehem University
Bethlehem Association Scholarship Fund
The Pio Cardinal Laghi Founders Award for Outstanding Support to Bethlehem University
is presented to a charitable organization that has generously contributed to the Bethlehem University Foundation in its work of supporting Bethlehem University.
Then Archbishop Laghi was instrumental in the creation and formation of Bethlehem University and is recognized as one of the primary founders of Bethlehem University. Recipients of this award are recognized for carrying on this legacy of outstanding support to Bethlehem University.
The Bethlehem Association is a non-profit, charitable organization founded in 1985 by Dr. Edward A. Hazbun. Its mission is to strengthen close ties among people whose family origin is from the area of Palestine that includes Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, and Beit Jala who are now living in the United States, Canada, and Latin America, and to keep them in touch with each other and with their hometowns in Palestine. Most of the members live in the United States with sizable groups in Canada, Central America, and South America.
When Anton Issa Hazboun, the father of founder Dr. Edward A. Hazbun, passed away, his family set up a memorial scholarship which began the Bethlehem Association Scholarship Fund. Over the years, fifteen other families have followed suit, resulting in a substantial endowment fund. Today the fund consists of individual family scholarships and a general scholarship supported by contributions from the general membership of the Bethlehem Association. The Bethlehem Association Scholarship Fund is administered by Dr. Edward A. Hazbun, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee, and Mr. Edward S. Hazboun, Treasurer.
The Bethlehem Association Scholarship Fund provides financial aid for the education and training of capable and needy students from Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour studying at Bethlehem University. Twenty five to thirty scholarships are granted each year and are awarded at the beginning of the Fall semester to pay tuition fees. Since the inception of the program, the scholarship fund has helped over 250 students at Bethlehem University.