The Community Foundation of Randolph County is pleased to announce that Derick Williams is the winner of the 2020 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. Williams is a senior at Union City Jr/Sr. High School. He plans to study engineering at either Purdue or Notre Dame. His parents are Erick and Georgia Williams.
The Lilly Scholarship provides four years of tuition at a public or private, non-profit, accredited college or university within the state of Indiana for a student pursuing a baccalaureate course of study. The scholarship also includes a yearly stipend to purchase books and other required supplies. Some colleges and universities also provide Lilly Scholars with free room and or board.
The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 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. Including the 23rd cohort, 4,769
full-tuition scholarships have been awarded and over $405M in scholarship tuition has been provided through the LECSP since the program’s inception in 1998. More than 2.5 million dollars has been awarded to Randolph County students.
Fifty Randolph County students applied for the Lilly Scholarship this year. Applicants were scored on academic ability, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, work experience, and community involvement. Students were also required to write an essay and identify their goals and aspirations for the future. In September, the Community Foundation of Randolph County honored the top ten students at a banquet. Five of those students were later invited for interviews before the scholarship committee selected the finalists whose names were submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana for approval. The four finalists not selected to receive the Lilly will receive $1,250 scholarships from the Community Foundation. Those students are Lindsey Herrera of Winchester, Leah Keesling of Randolph Southern, Katie Reichard of Union City, and Grant Wagner of Winchester.
“The scholarship committee interviewed five outstanding candidates and would be honored to have any one of them representing Randolph County,” said Community Foundation Program Director, Stephanie Ward. “Derick is a shining star among his peers”