Friends, Penn State Harrisburg alumni create Legacy Scholarship

October 11, 2024

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg alumni and "lifelong friends" Gibran Jones and Marcellus Taylor have established the Jones/Tayor Legacy Scholarship, an annual gift of $2,500 for five years to support students who have financial need and who are pursuing degrees in the School of Business Administration.

Jones and Taylor said they picked SBA students to receive their scholarship because they "are passionate about innovation and wanted to highlight that." And they wanted to create the scholarship at Penn State Harrisburg because that's where their friendship began.

Taylor and Jones will tell you they are the unlikeliest of friends - a combat veteran and an educated minister.

"We are a yin and yang," Jones said. "We are two totally different ends of the spectrum. I am the firestarter, and 'MT' adds the structure."

Although an unlikely pair, Taylor said that the two have always learned from each other.

It was during their studies at Penn State Harrisburg that they became friends. Both were very active on campus, serving various leadership roles in the campus chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., on the multicultural recruitment team, and in the Student Government Association.

Their love for Penn State and especially Penn State Harrisburg grew right along with their friendship.

"When I got here to Penn State Harrisburg, I just knew," Taylor said. "I feel like this is a place where dreams and hope come to flourish. We are indebted in so many ways. We met some great people here."

"We have to thank Penn State Harrisburg for connecting us," Jones added. "The college always had a spirit of connectivity - we knew our faculty, we knew staff … we still know a lot of them."

It was this love for the college that was the catalyst for the scholarship. They wanted to "give back to the college that helped mold them into who they are today and help a student in need," Taylor said.

When they were considering the ideal student to receive the scholarship, Jones said, it wasn't just about students who need resources - it also was about character.

"We wanted upstanding students who were going to go out and do something in the world," Jones said.

Both Jones and Taylor are success stories from Penn State Harrisburg.

Jones, a U.S. Army veteran who graduated in 2008 with a degree in information science and technology, is the owner of Krimson Square, a full suite digital marketing firm that he established in 2010. He has worked with businesses of all sizes and sectors, from startups to the NFL, and is currently working as the lead trainer and subject matter expert with Boot Camp Digital. 

A member of the college's Board of Advisers and a former member of the Alumni Society Board of Directors, Jones was recognized by Penn State Harrisburg as one of its "People to Watch" in 2023. He was awarded the K. David Weidner Diversity Award by the Penn State Alumni Association.

Taylor completed his bachelor of science degree in sociology in 2012 and a master of education degree in training and development in 2014. He also holds a doctoral degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and he is the author of "Don't Box Me In: 9 P's of Creative Leadership."

Currently, he serves as director of health equity at the Partnership for Better Health, where he leads a portfolio of grants and initiatives focused on advancing health equity.

Taylor's previous roles include director of diversity and inclusion for the Penn State College of Medicine and assistant director of student life at Penn State Harrisburg. He is co-founder and CEO of Blossburg & Cedar, a leadership and learning consulting firm based in Harrisburg. Taylor was recently recognized by Penn State Harrisburg as one of its "People to Watch" of 2024.

It was the success in their professional and personal lives that enabled Jones and Taylor to start their philanthropic journey.

"We started this scholarship because we believe that it is one thing to be successful, but it's another thing to collaborate, and it is in the spirit of collaboration that we created this scholarship," Taylor said. He added that they could have established separate scholarships, but as lifelong friends, they wanted to see "'how can we come together with the resources that we have for something that we have in common - a love for Penn State Harrisburg."

He said, "We are sons of Pennsylvania. We're from unique experiences that are so similar. We just wanted to build a legacy."

Taylor said that he and Jones are hopeful that their philanthropy can empower the next generation of alumni to "love Penn State Harrisburg, like we love Penn State Harrisburg" and create more scholarships.

Jones and Taylor hope to grow the scholarship and help even more students in the future. Though the scholarship was started by the two friends, other interested individuals or organizations also can contribute to the fund.

When asked where they see the future of their gift, both Jones and Taylor replied, "More."

"More people. More recipients. Higher amount," Jones said. "Backwards is not an option."

"My heart is happy because now we are asking, 'What can we do to do more? How can we serve more? How can we dig a little deeper?' We're not leaving anyone behind," Taylor said. "Let's make it happen, let's do it together, let's change the lives of these students."

Jones said that starting this scholarship will have a ripple effect for future graduates of the college.

"You don't have to be rich to do it," Jones said. "Just do it with what you have on a level that you can, and it will come back to you exponentially. My dream is that in 20 years, we are returning here, and we still have this scholarship."

Donors like Jones and Taylor advance the University's historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University's impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.