Heritage Fund - The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County Announces 2023 Lilly Scholars
Heritage Fund announced Columbus East High School seniors Hallie Randle and Ariana Simpson as recipients of the 2023 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Bartholomew County.
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character and leadership. Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years. The scholarship is for undergraduate students studying on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university. LECS Scholars also may participate in the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects both current scholars and alumni with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. Both the scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and Indiana Humanities.
“Every year we are humbled by the extraordinary effort the applicants give to their studies, their activities and community involvement and athletics, while facing challenges outside of school that make it hard to do all the great things they do. We are so proud to award this scholarship to two recipients who truly deserve it and it will set them on a path to success in college and life,” Matt Kirr, chairman of HFBC’s LECS Selection Committee, said.
Randle, daughter of Andrew and Suzanne Randle, has been active in Student Assembly, East soccer and track and field, Key Club, National Honor Society and St. Peter's Church and Youth Group. She plans to major in Speech Language Pathology. Simpson, daughter of Martha Rosalba Dominguez Barradas, has been active in Show Choir and Multicultural and Theatre/Drama clubs. She plans to pursue a biology major.
Heritage Fund received 48 applications for this year’s scholarships, from which 10 finalists were selected. Scholarship applicants were evaluated by the selection committee on academic performance; scholastic and community involvement; employment; leadership; financial need; responses to short answer questions and a 450-word essay; two recommendations; and finalist interviews. Scholarship nominees were then submitted to ICI, statewide administrator of the scholarship program, for nomination approval.
Finalists are: Jessica Meza Sanchez, Tymon Ferguson, Ella Fisher, Matina Maharjan and Paula Ramos Perez from Columbus North, Briana Dwenger and Jaclyn Shaw from Columbus Signature Academy – New Tech and Gracie Greene from Hauser Jr-Sr High School.
To date, 55 Bartholomew County students have been named Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.
About LECSP, Lilly Endowment & ICI
Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1998-1999 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling in excess of $486 million. More than 5,000 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since the program’s inception. The primary purposes of LECSP are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds significant programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. However, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.
Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates.
About Heritage Fund
Heritage Fund – the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County was formed as a community foundation in 1976 with the purpose of continuing a legacy of giving by providing an opportunity for all citizens to make gifts and establish charitable funds to benefit the local community. It was created primarily to: provide responsible stewardship of gifts donated for broad charitable purposes; promote leadership to address community issues; serve as a catalyst for positive change in partnership with others; and promote philanthropy broadly within the community.