WAYNE, N.J. – Four members of the William Paterson football program each received a $500 tuition scholarship from Lakeland Bank, an acknowledgement of their honest act that was caught on surveillance cameras in August.

Lakeland Bank President and CEO Tom Shara, Executive Vice President Jeff Buonforte and Marketing Communication Specialist Tracy Conklin, as well as William Paterson President Kathleen Waldron, were on hand Oct. 2 for the presentation of the scholarships to freshmen Anthony Biondi (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley), Jelani Bruce (East Orange, N.J./East Orange Campus), Kell'E Gallimore (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) and Thomas James (East Orange, N.J./East Orange Campus).

The four Pioneers made national news after they visited Buddy's Small Lots between preseason practice sessions on Sunday, Aug. 25, entering the unlocked store. After completing their shopping, they searched the building for a staff member. When they could not locate one, Gallimore and James left cash on the counter near the register to pay for their purchases before leaving to return to campus for their next practice session.

As it turned out, Buddy's was closed for the day, but the door's lock malfunctioned and the store's lights were on, leaving the impression that the store was open for business. The student-athletes' anonymous, honest acts were caught on the Wayne store's surveillance cameras, and the video quickly garnered wide-spread attention after first being broadcast on News 12 New Jersey.

In all, nearly 750 media outlets across the country picked up the story, including NBC's Today, ESPN.com's Rick Reilly, ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike, ESPN's SportsCenter, The Maury Show, MSNBC's Caught on Camera, USA Today, Yahoo!, CNN, The Star Ledger, News 12 New Jersey, NBC 4 New York, ABC 7 New York, CBS 2 New York, Fox 5 New York, The Record and WCBS Radio.

For all of the latest information on the Pioneers, visit http://www.wpupioneers.com, http://www.facebook.com/wpupioneers, http://www.youtube.com/thewpupioneers and http://twitter.com/wpupioneers.