WESTMINSTER COLLEGE 73 freshmen are awarded $3M in scholarship funds

Nearly half of the recipients are from the Shenango and Mahoning valleys.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Westminster College has awarded more than $3 million in scholarship aid to 73 freshmen nominated by alumni educators and pastors or congregations of Presbyterian churches.
The Presbyterian Church-related college announced that 45 students have each been awarded $40,000 Jerb Miller Scholarships, while 28 others have been awarded $44,000 Young Presbyterian Scholarships.
Both scholarships are spread evenly over a four-year period, and students must remain in good academic standing to secure funding beyond the first year, said Mark Meighen, a Westminster spokesman.
Both also are funded directly by the college, and both are in their second year.
These are the largest scholarships that the college awards, and students from the Mahoning and Shenango valleys totaled almost half of the recipients.
Westminster is funding them because it feels the programs help meet the college's mission while serving two constituent groups -- educators and pastors -- that have supported Westminster over the years, Meighen said.
How program works
Westminster College alumni who are educators are invited to nominate a deserving student with at least a 3.5 high school grade point average for a Jerb Miller Scholarship, a four-year $40,000 award renewable at $10,000 per year.
The scholarship program was created in honor of Dr. Jerb Miller, a beloved professor of education at Westminster from 1968 until his death in 1992.
The Young Presbyterian Scholarships are offered to outstanding Presbyterian Church students. The $44,000 awards are renewable at $11,000 per year.
Church pastors, or their congregations, are asked to nominate a student of their choosing who meets the criteria of being an active member of a Presbyterian Church-USA congregation and holding a high school grade point average of at least 3.5.
The college grants the scholarships upon receiving that endorsement and confirmation of the student's academic credentials.
"The key thing that I am observing about the Young Presbyterian Scholars Program is that the students are truly living up to their billing," said Carey Anne Meyer LaSor, coordinator of the Young Presbyterian Scholars Program.
"Last spring, 10 of our first year's YPS students made the Dean's List; 10 were inducted into Lambda Sigma; eight were given departmental or other prizes and scholarships; one made the [Presidents' Athletic Conference] Honor Roll in the fall semester; and one was recognized by Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board as one of the top 10 freshman leaders on campus," she said.
Nominations for both scholarship programs for the 2006-07 academic year are due by Oct. 31. For more information on the programs, visit www.westminster.edu/Jerb and www.westminster.edu/yps.