Presbyterian College issues challenge to future service entrepreneurs with statewide competition for high school seniors

Presbyterian College announced today that it is leaning into its motto – “While We Live, We Serve” – with a challenge to high school seniors who are interested in making service their business.

PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg announced the College’s Service Entrepreneurship Competition’s beginning this fall in an Oct. 18 press conference at the Peace Center in Greenville, S.C.

vandenBerg told area business, service, and education leaders that the competition is open to every high school senior in South Carolina and is the largest competition of its type in the state and likely among the largest in higher education.

“The next generation of innovative servant leaders and entrepreneurs are in high school classrooms as we speak,” he said. “Service is central to PC’s identity as a church-related liberal arts college, so we believe there is no better place for these students to harness their intellectual curiosity, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit to do meaningful and relevant work in today’s society.”

Generation Z is quickly developing a reputation as the most socially conscious, empathetic, innovative, and digitally savvy generation yet, vandenBerg explained.  They are action-oriented individuals who want to address the root causes of societal problems like homelessness, poverty, and inequality rather than the symptoms of those challenges.

PC is offering competition winners a full-ride scholarship (tuition, room, and board) and up to $10,000 plus coaching and independent study class credit to implement their proposal. Runners-up will receive a scholarship covering most of their tuition and the same level of support, including up to $10,000, to implement their proposal. Honorable mentions will receive significant scholarships and the same level of support and academic credit.

Scholarship winners also bring a wealth of economic development and service opportunities to Upstate, South Carolina, vandenBerg said.

Several Greenville County leaders endorsed the competition and welcomed the service entrepreneurship opportunities it brings.

Greenville County Council member and PC alumnus Butch Kirven said the opportunity for students to vie for scholarships at one of the most vital liberal arts colleges in South Carolina would help them become great service entrepreneurs.

“I know that the faculty and other mentors who will be engaged in this new program at PC will be strong resources which will help students explore and learn and grow into strong entrepreneurs in the non-profit space that we need in our community,” Kirven said. “And I believe that the impact the students of this program will have will be a win-win in Greenville County and the Upstate region. I am proud of PC for kicking off this amazing new program that will expand our idea of service.”

Greenville County School District superintendent Dr. Burke Royster said the competition at PC is an excellent example of the educational opportunities the district seeks.

“The Service Entrepreneurship Competition that Presbyterian College announces today will provide our students the opportunity to do a deep dive into exploring solutions for some of our social issues that impact our communities,” he said. “… We are pleased that PC is working with business, education, and community leaders in the Greenville community and elsewhere to share this opportunity. It should have a lasting impact on our region as these students develop and implement some of their service entrepreneurship projects to help make our community a better place.”

Meghan Barp, president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Greenville County, welcomed PC’s plan to partner with public, private, and civic leaders, as well.

“We need new ways of approaching social challenges,” she said. “This is not an option of ‘should we’ do this; it is ‘how can we’ do this.  Our community deserves better, and I believe that our young people have the ability to create solutions.”

Carlos Phillips, the Greenville Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said PC’s plan to build a service entrepreneurship infrastructure fills a need in the Upstate and beyond.

“Presbyterian College’s social entrepreneurship curriculum will complement the Chamber’s current efforts to build an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem,” he said, “including NEXT Upstate’s focus on developing our innovation ecosystem and the Minority Business Accelerator, which develops our area’s minority and women-owned business enterprises.”

The competition begins this fall with a Dec. 1 deadline for entries. Individuals or teams of two to three are to submit a detailed written business case that addresses a compelling societal problem with an equally persuasive solution – including proposed timelines for implementation, background research, and plans to sustain their solution. The College will announce winners in early spring of 2022, with winners enrolling at PC for fall 2022.

For more information, go to https://www.presby.edu/admissions/tuition-aid/scholarships/service-entrepreneurship-competition/.