The band O.A.R. credits The Ohio State University with helping them achieve the success they enjoy today. Four high school friends from Rockville, Maryland, (Marc Roberge (English, 2001), Chris Culos (political science, 2001), Benj Gershman, and Richard On) chose Ohio State to further their education and music career. They met fellow Buckeye, Jerry DePizzo, and began making their mark in the music industry soon after, touring the country and selling countless records. As a tribute to their incredible collegiate experience, the platinum-selling group has established a $50,000 undergraduate scholarship to benefit prospective students from DePizzo’s hometown of Youngstown.

“People from all over the world travel to Ohio State to get an education and we knew if we were successful at Ohio State, we could be successful all over the country,” DePizzo said. “It personally means a great deal to be able to team up with the university and help the community where I grew up.”

In 2006, O.A.R. launched the Heard the World fund, a philanthropic fund to benefit youth, education, and sustainable programs in the United States and abroad. Through the fund, the band is contributing to the Ohio Scholarship Challenge, an Ohio State fundraising initiative announced in January with a goal of raising $100 million for general scholarships. The first O.A.R. Heard the World scholarship recipients will begin studying at Ohio State in autumn 2013. The scholarships will follow students’ academic journey regardless of the major they choose or which Ohio State campus they attend. As with all scholarships, students must maintain satisfactory academic progress and remain in good standing with the university.

“We started the Heard the World scholarship fund because we felt fortunate to have had the resources to get a great education and wanted to be able to provide other students that opportunity,” Gershman said. “As students, we were fortunate to perform at Ohio State and throughout the Ohio region, which helped us to become the band we are today.”

Members of O.A.R. invite you to accept the Ohio Scholarship Challenge and join them in changing lives and communities through education. Friends and alumni of Ohio State can support high school students in every Ohio county through The Ohio State University’s Ohio Scholarship Challenge. They can also join in O.A.R's spirit of philanthropy by contributing to the Heard the World fund.

About The Ohio Scholarship Challenge

Launched in January 2013, with a goal of raising a total of $100 million in general scholarship dollars, the Ohio Scholarship Challenge will create a full-tuition endowed scholarship in each of Ohio’s 88 counties and raise important current use scholarship dollars. Scholarships funded by the challenge are transferrable between majors and portable between campuses—two major factors that restricted scholarships do not offer. This flexibility enables a recipient to keep the scholarship regardless of major or campus attended. Best of all, scholarships are renewable for up to four years as long as the student remains in good standing —so a student will be assured financial assistance for all four years of their undergraduate experience.

About O.A.R.

O.A.R., the "grassroots phenomenon" that transformed into one of rock's preeminent live acts, is on the road through August for their 2013 Sounds of Summer tour. The band is currently at work on the follow up to their widely praised 2011 release, King - a "sunburned dub stew of reggae, surf, and jazz-rock rhythms" (EW) by "a self-assured band at the height of its creative powers" (M Magazine). For information about O.A.R., visit ofarevolution.com or contact Rebecca Shapiro or Jon Bleicher at Shore Fire Media (718) 522–7171.

About the Heard the World fund

The Heard the World fund was established in 2006 by the band O.A.R. to provide resources for underfunded educational and youth programs in the U.S. and abroad. A portion of every O.A.R. concert ticket sold goes directly to the fund and in December 2012, the band held their second ever Heard the World benefit concert. Through the fund, O.A.R. was able to pay 72 students’ 2008/2009 school year tuition, in partnership with The Children’s Scholarship Fund, and they recently donated $75,000 worth of computers and related equipment to the Liberty School District in Youngstown, Ohio.