A $2.5 million gift from Charles Marcon, Bethlehem resident and Lehigh collaborator and supporter, will create the Marcon Institute. The core activity of the Institute will be to prepare undergraduate scholars (who will be known as Marcon Fellows) to work with community partners as change agents in the areas of anti-racism and social justice. Marcon, a noted philanthropist in the area and CEO of Duggan & Marcon, developed an awareness of racial equity issues while playing alongside Black teammates on a high school baseball team and as an officer in the Army. But it was relationships closer to home-as a grandfather to 12 grandchildren, four of whom are biracial-that led to this gift. "I started thinking about my biracial grandchildren. Would they be discriminated against? I became very concerned about their safety," Marcon said. “That got me thinking about issues of race and what I could do about them. It’s easy to recognize them globally or nationally, but one person with limited resources will not make any impact at that level. But locally, I certainly could have impact.” Read the full story here.