Madonna’s concert tour promoter, Live Nation MTours Inc., recently donated $5,000 to the Brandon E. Bitner Memorial Scholarship at Susquehanna

University, at the Bitner family’s request. The donation resulted from the family’s permitting a photograph of the Mt. Pleasant Mills teen to be used in Madonna’s

MDNA world tour, as part of a video montage that decries bullying.

Brandon was 14 when he ended his life in November 2010, having described repeated bullying he endured from peers. At the Madonna concert, his photo is one of seven flashed

briefly on a video screen, with his name and the message “R.I.P.,” during the singer’s performance of “Nobody Knows Me.” The montage has already been viewed by

audiences around the world, with the tour scheduled to arrive in the United States August 28

“This has been a huge blessing to Brandon’s memory,” said Bitner’s cousin Katie Goodling, who maintains a website, www.brandonbitner.com, and a Facebook page,

facebook.com/ripbrandonbitner, where video of the concert’s photo montage is posted. “I have interacted with so many different Madonna fans from across the world on

Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn since [his photo] started appearing on the stage each night. They have been so supportive and kind.”

When Madonna’s tour producers asked the Bitner family to name a donation recipient—one that raises awareness of bullying—they suggested the Bitner Scholarship at

Susquehanna. Bitner was an accomplished violinist who played in what was formerly the university preparatory program’s youth orchestra. The scholarship fund has

supported the talent of a Susquehanna music major each year since it was established in 2010. Senior violinist Amanda Simensky, of Westminster, Md., is the scholarship

recipient for 2012-13.

“To see our efforts and the prominence of Brandon’s Facebook page lead to something so huge is surreal,” Goodling said. “I’m also extremely happy that LiveNation

donated money to his scholarship, which helps keep it alive from year to year.”

Source: susqu.edu