SEPTEMBER 2000
DONOR GIVES ENDOWMENT
By Lisa Cashulette
FSU Foundation
Retired FSU professor Lou Bender and his wife Betty have given $1.35 million to establish two endowed funds, one to benefit blind students and the other for the School of Visual Arts and Dance.
The Elizabeth Plescia Bender Endowed Fund for Blind Students will provide support for readers, note takers and library assistance and will eventually support scholarships for blind students.
Lou Bender surprised his wife with the endowed fund named for her, and she determined the fund's purpose. Betty Bender wanted her endowment to help blind students in memory of her late mother, a voracious reader and needlecraft designer and artist, who became legally blind late in life.
"We in the Division of Student Affairs at Florida State University are most grateful for the generous gift made possible by the Benders," said Winston Scott, vice president for Student Affairs. "We take very seriously our responsibility to these members of our community who are visually impaired. This endowment, which Dr. and Mrs. Bender have provided, is a wonderful and unique opportunity for us to enhance these students' education and ensure their success here at Florida State.
This gift is a wonderful testimony of our motto,'Sharing and Caring,' for all of our students here at Florida State University."
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LOU AND BETTY BENDER
The second endowment, The Mario J. Plescia Endowed Fund, will provide scholarships to student artists working in oil painting and will later support art education students. This fund is named for Betty Bender's late father, a self-taught artist.
Mario Plescia lacked formal education but was a well-read man who taught himself oil painting and read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. An accomplished artist, his paintings have been shown twice at Clemson University. Lou Bender described his father-in-law as a very intelligent person who was extremely successful without a formal education.
"He had a real-life doctorate," Bender said. "He had common sense."
Jerry Draper, dean of the School of Visual Arts and Dance, said the Plescia scholarship will become a prestigious award for his school's aspiring artists.
"This fund is a wonderful gift not only as a source of financial support for worthy students but also because it honors the memory of Mario Plescia," Draper said.
"The story of Mr. Plescia's life should be inspiring to young artists. These students have the advantage of a formal art education, but it's important for them to be reminded that the practice and perfection of art is a lifelong endeavor, based in talent and compelled by desire. Mr. Plescia's life is a poignant example of that."
The Benders are associated with yet another endowment at FSU. A third fund, the Dr. Louis W. Bender Scholarship Fund in the College of Education, was established by his family, friends and former students upon his retirement from FSU.
Lou Bender joined the FSU faculty in 1970 and retired in 1991. Betty Bender taught at the FSU School of Nursing in 1971 and 1972.