Last modified: Thursday, August 4, 2005
IU announces inaugural class of Hoosier Presidential Scholars
EDITORS: A list of students follows this release.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Adam W. Herbert announced today (Aug. 4) that 33 students have accepted offers to attend IU as members of the inaugural class of Hoosier Presidential Scholars.
The highly competitive program, initiated by Herbert and funded by a $10 million grant from the Lilly Foundation, is aimed at placing more of Indiana's top high school students at IU campuses, with the hope that they might be more inclined to stay in Indiana after they graduate.
Unlike IU's other competitive scholarship programs, such as the Wells and Kelley Scholars, eligibility for Hoosier Presidential Scholarships is limited to Indiana residents.
These students will receive renewable scholarships ranging from $6,000 to $12,000 a year for four years, plus a new laptop computer. In their junior or senior year, the students will also receive a $1,000 award toward the cost of a semester of international study abroad.
"This exciting program gives each of our campuses a significant new tool to attract more of Indiana's most academically talented high school students," Herbert said. "These students have the potential for high levels of success in their chosen professions. They will be Indiana's future leaders. Our responsibility is to offer them an educational experience commensurate with their exceptional abilities -- and we will do so."
This fall, 18 Hoosier Presidential Scholars will enroll at the Bloomington campus, nine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and one each at regional campuses in Columbus, Gary, Kokomo, Richmond and South Bend. One scholar is delaying her enrollment at Bloomington until 2006 to take advantage of an overseas study opportunity.
Charlie Nelms, vice president for institutional development and student affairs, said the Lilly Endowment's $10 million investment will enable IU to offer 30 to 40 scholarships each year in perpetuity.
"This is a program that over the long term will benefit IU and the state as well as the individual student participants," Nelms said. "IU is better able to attract students of exceptional achievement, and we hope many of them will remain in Indiana after they complete their undergraduate work. We are very grateful to the Lilly Endowment for its foresight in helping us establish this program."
The investment provides roughly $500,000 a year in interest to support the program. From this fund, scholarship grants ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 are awarded to each participant. The student's campus must match this award on a 2-for-1 basis, resulting in a total value of $6,000 to $12,000 per student. As a result, each award is campus-specific and non-transferable to another IU campus.
Each campus nominates students for the award from its applicant pool. Scholars are chosen not only on high school performance and SAT scores, but also on their record of activities and leadership, community service, recommendations from teachers and guidance counselors, and a personal statement.
"In addition to academic performance, we look at how well-rounded the student is and whether he or she has had to overcome significant obstacles to achievement," Nelms said.
Nelms said he is very pleased that IU was able to attract so many exceptional students in the first year of the program.
The average grade point average for the 33 inaugural class members exceeded 4.0 because so many were in advanced placement and honors classes. The average SAT score was 1394, and 86 percent of awardees came from public high schools.
One-fourth of the inaugural class are minority students. Thirty-nine percent are female and 61 percent are male.
Jack Schmit, assistant to the vice president for institutional development and student affairs, said offers were made to 67 IU applicants and 33 accepted.
"These are students who might well have been lost to Indiana without this program," Schmit said. "There is fierce competition for students at this level of achievement. All of these students received competitive offers from other universities."
Schmit said high school seniors who are interested in competing for next year's Hoosier Presidential Scholarships should be sure their enrollment application is completed and turned in yet this fall. Award offers for 2006 will be decided by Jan. 15.
2005 Hoosier Presidential Scholars
(listed alphabetically, by campus)
-- Rishi Harish Ardeshna, Fort Wayne, IUB
-- Brian Keith Beesley, Noblesville, IUB
-- William Franklin Bennett, Indianapolis, IUB
-- Timothy Robert Cox-Rivers, Indianapolis, IUB
-- Melissa Lynn Dittmann, Porter, IUB (Deferred until 2006)
-- Sophie Marie Faught, Indianapolis, IUB
-- Stephen Joseph Frantz, Goshen, IUB
-- Mitia Gabrielov, West Lafayette, IUB
-- Lindsay Erin Gibson, Indianapolis, IUB
-- Alison Marie Howard, Terre Haute, IUB
-- Kyla Breanne King, Royal Center, IUB
-- Brenden Lee Krodel, Jasper, IUB
-- Nicholas Alexander Marshall, Fort Wayne, IUB
-- Jennifer Elizabeth Miller, Sellersburg, IUB
-- Adam Michael Molon, Wheatfield, IUB
-- Allyson Lynn Ray, Indianapolis, IUB
-- Joshua Lee Robinson, Goshen, IUB
-- Stephanie Ranae Rumage, Santa Claus, IUB
-- Matthew David Wiegman, New Albany, IUB
-- Cameron Eugene Carter, Greenwood, IUPUI
-- Peter Joel Sempsrott, Arlington, IUPUI
-- Virdiana Auger-Velez, Indianapolis, IUPUI
-- Jonathan Wah Liang, Indianapolis, IUPUI
-- Holly Sue Brockman, Shelbyville, IUPUI
-- Karissa Corrine Guerrero, Valparaiso, IUPUI
-- David Robert Sempsrott, Arlington, IUPUI
-- Paul G. Riccio, Indianapolis, IUPUI
-- Amy Marie Niebrugge, West Lafayette, IUPUI
-- Sadie Gonzales, Seymour, IUPUC
-- Corey White, Lynn, IUE
-- Sunny Marie Jewell, Greentown, IUK
-- Richard P. Silaj, Highland, IUN
-- Colin Andrew Flora, South Bend, IUSB
