Walgreens supports two College of Pharmacy programs

January 13, 2009 | News
By Jim Winkler



Thanks to a $42,500 gift from the Walgreen Co., the UT College of Pharmacy’s annual pharmacy summer camp for high school seniors will continue for the next five years.

The pharmacy camp is a three-night, four-day event that takes place each summer at UT and at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, near Cleveland.

The 40 high school juniors who are competitively selected for each camp session learn about careers in pharmacy and the pharmaceutical sciences, see the Main and Health Science campuses, and interact with UT pharmacy faculty and staff.

The 2009 camp dates are June 14 -17 at Ursuline College and June 21-24 and July 19-22 at The University of Toledo’s Main Campus.

Dr. Johnnie Early tells Elaine Boateng that she is the first UT winner of the Walgreens Diversity Scholarship.

“The pharmacy camp is one of the most important educational initiatives of the college,” said College of Pharmacy Dean Johnnie Early II. “Students gain a broad view of pharmacy and many leave saying pharmacy is a career they’d like to one day pursue. Walgreens has been one of the college’s most generous supporters, and I can’t thank them enough for their generous gift.”

In addition, Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, has awarded the college a $10,000 grant to fund student initiatives and support the college’s diversity efforts. The company earlier this year committed to donating more than $1 million annually to support diversity initiatives at the nation’s pharmacy schools. Each of the 111 accredited colleges of pharmacy across the country will receive $10,000 every year to aid their efforts at increasing diversity among pharmacy school students.

Elaine Boateng, a third-year pharmacy student, received the first Walgreens Diversity Scholarship.

“The Walgreens scholarship gift will allow young students to pursue their dreams of becoming pharmacists and working as a part of a comprehensive health-care team,” Early said. “By supporting diversity, Walgreens is helping to secure a place for all students in pharmacy education.”