April 24th, 2010

Even with tough economic times, the Montana State University College of Business (CoB) presented more than 85 scholarships and awards for students majoring in business options for the 2010-2011 academic year. The scholarships, announced Monday, April 19th at the CoB’s annual scholarship banquet, were provided through endowments and funds set up to specifically grant financial aid to students enrolled in the CoB. Around people, including family and friends, attended the event.

President Waded Cruzado, the banquet’s keynote speaker, began the evening welcoming those in attendance and talked about the legacy being celebrated that evening before she launched into a fun and entertaining story that emphasized her message for the students. “Many years ago in the Middle East, there was a country that had a currency called “talent,” President Cruzado began saying. She told the story of a wealthy man who, before leaving on a journey, passed on “talents” to three servants who were to care for his properties while he was gone. He gave them each a different amount and asked them to use their “talents” wisely and invest, saying he would come back to see how they had done. Upon his return, he found two of his servants had invested the “talents” and now had more than what they started with. On the other hand, the third servant, who was afraid, had buried his “talent.”

President Cruzado concluded the story by encouraging the students to follow the first two servants and not the last. “Everyone here has a talent. You need to delegate and believe in people and trust their judgment. To those who receive a lot, they need to give back a lot.”Then she looked into the audience and emphasized that the donors didn’t know the scholarship recipients beforehand, but had chosen to invest in them. She said each student has now received many “talents” and we will see what they do with those gifts.