A donor's story of how scholarships make a difference

By Charles Lofgren

Editor’s note: Charles Lofgren (’51–B.S.; ’57–M.S., agriculture), a longtime supporter of the college, spent his career with Pfizer, in a variety of countries and roles. Lofgren was the keynote speaker at last fall’s “Thanksgiving for Scholarships” event, where students and scholarship donors get a chance to meet in person. This is an edited transcript of his remarks.

I was raised on a dairy farm near Moose Lake, Minnesota. As a boy, you could find me with my ear glued to the radio listening to my favorite football team, the Golden Gophers, and I had dreams of attending the U of M, specifically the college of agriculture.
My dream did come true, and I still remember that day in September when I boarded a Greyhound bus for what we called “the Cities.” At the bus depot in downtown Minneapolis, I ran into a fellow named Larry. He also came from a dairy farm in northeastern Minnesota and we became good friends. Larry was an honor student, and he told me that his older brother and sister were enrolled in a community college near their home.

He thought that was where he was going too, except that he got a scholarship that paid his tuition at the university.
He was majoring in agronomy and wanted to get into agribusiness. I had similar aspirations and one day during fall quarter, to my surprise and delight, I got a letter from the dean saying that I had been granted a scholarship that was going to pay pretty much all of my tuition for that year.
We went home for the summer and in August, I got a letter from Larry saying his scholarship was not renewed and his applications for other scholarships were to no avail.
He said, “I won’t be back in the fall, but maybe I’ll be back for winter or spring quarter.” Nope, that didn’t happen. And I thought, what a pity, what a shame, what a waste, here this young brilliant student who is highly motivated and well focused—I was thinking of all of the contributions he could have made. At that moment, I said, “someday, when I have the opportunity, I am going to contribute to a scholarship fund or maybe even have a scholarship program of my own.” It took me 40 years, but in 1993, I established the Charles Lofgren Scholarship and in these 15 years, I am very pleased to say, over two dozen students have benefited from my scholarships.
Every time I have a chance, I sit down with my students, such as the five at the dinner table tonight, and discuss what they are doing and what their aspirations are. I get emails, phone calls, letters from former students, asking me for advice, and thankfully, giving me some advice too. That’s good.
A few years ago, I was at a reunion in New York and I told a friend who graduated from Texas A&M about my scholarship fund. He said, “that really is a big annual expense on your part.” I said, “no, that’s not an expense. It’s an investment, an investment in the lives and the futures of deserving students.”
Two weeks later I got a call from him. He said when he got home, he had written a check to the Aggie Assurance program, a program at Texas A&M for deserving students. He’s still contributing.
So it’s with great satisfaction that I have been granting these scholarships, and now I would like to address all of those here who sponsor scholarships or represent organizations that grant scholarships. We’re in a pretty tough economy right now, but let’s keep up with our scholarships and even, if possible, increase it, because every one of the students here is worth every penny.
I would urge you—but don’t wait 40 years like me—to get involved in the scholarships, because it will make you proud. You are contributing to the well-being and the future of deserving students.

As the Chief Development Officer for the past 10 years at the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Science at the University of Minnesota, I’ve had the privilege and fun of knowing Charlie Lofgren.  He started his Lofgren Scholarship in 1993, well before I arrived in 2004, but we were able to spend the next 10 years figuring out how to perfect the Charlie Lofgren scholarship program.  Part of that included getting Charlie email addresses of all new recipients.  Every spring, Charlie would start getting his thank you letters from the new students.  We’d provide him with their email addresses and he’d write them back with words of encouragement and counsel.  It seemed like each year, Charlie would say to me, “Cynthia, looks like I have one of the best crops of students yet.”  If you wonder what motivated Charlie to start a scholarship program and keep in touch with not only the students but their families, I'd have to say you need to hear it from Charlie himself.  Please go this link:  http://www.cfans.umn.edu/CFANSGiving/ThanksgivingforScholarships/2008/index.htm

This is the video of the 2008 annual scholarship dinner when Charlie was the featured speaker.  Click on the video.  When it starts playing move the time bar to 33:02.  This is when our Associate Dean Jay Bell introduces Charlie, followed by Charlie’s remarks.  He perfectly and beautifully expresses what’s in his heart. 

The 2014-15 Lofgren Scholarship recipients will soon be selected. Sadly, this will be the first “crop” that will not meet their benefactor, Charlie Lofgren.  Still, Charlie’s legacy will live on through this scholarship.

Charlie, I’ll miss our lunches at Jax Café and visits with Dean Al Levine.  I’ll miss your emails telling me what exotic place you’re visiting that week.  I’ll miss your kindness and friendship.  For now, I’ll look for you in the students you helped and nurtured and the students in generations to come.   Cynthia Cashman

How Charlie Lofgren Lives United   
  Charles ("Charlie") Lofgren, an exemplary, hands-on philanthropist, has been a supporter of United Way for nearly 60 years. Read More here....