What is a Lilly Endowment Scholarship?

On February 7th, the Community Foundation of Morgan County (CFMC) hosted a dinner to celebrate the 2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship finalists from Morgan County.

Our guest speaker for the evening was a 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar and Monrovia high school graduate, Sydney Schloemer.  She currently attends DePauw University in Greencastle and is a part of the Lilly Scholars Network, which is available to Lilly scholars, and was a 2023 Lead Forward Community Grant recipient.  Sydney shared her experiences thus far at DePauw as a scholar, how the opportunities in high school have allowed her to grow, and shared encouragement to our finalists and scholars.

The scholarship will provide full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university. Lilly Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Endowment funded Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects scholars with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities.

The 2024 Morgan County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application opened on Thursday, July 6, 2023.  Seniors had until Friday, August 25th to submit their applications.  Applicants were required to be a current Morgan County student or reside in the county and be graduating by June 30, 2024.  We are thankful for the assistance of our high school staff and guidance counselors who helped share information about the scholarship opportunity and assist students with their applications.

This year, CFMC received a total of 93 applications representing seniors from most high schools, including our public and private high schools.  After a rigorous application and interview process, CFMC welcomed seven finalists for an in-person interview where they presented what they are most passionate about and answered questions from the interview committee.

Our Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Finalist Dinner welcomed these seven finalists and their families for a celebratory dinner, graciously hosted at Brickhouse on Main in Martinsville.  This year’s Lilly Endowment finalists are Addison Kennedy – Monrovia High School, Asher Bryant – Mooresville Christian Academy, Campbell Cox – Martinsville High School, Kasey Etter – Martinsville High School, Rachael Vanzant – Martinsville High School, Sadie Skaggs – Martinsville High School, and Sarah Miller – Martinsville High School.

We are proud to celebrate these seven Morgan County finalists and announce that Sarah Miller and Campbell Cox are this year’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.

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 $439 million. More than 7,000 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since the program’s inception.

The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program 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.

Congratulations to our finalists and scholars!