Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Recipient Named

The Foundation is proud to announce that Emory Smith has been named the recipient of a four-year, full tuition scholarship as the MCCF 2017 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar. Smith will receive full tuition to the Indiana College of her choice and a yearly stipend for required books and equipment. 

 Smith shares, “I am grateful to those who believed in me -- from the scholarship committee to my family, friends, teachers and coaches.” She continues, “I feel blessed and ultimately humbled.” 

Smith attends Plymouth High School and is planning to attend Notre Dame to study computer engineering and Chinese. “The Lilly Scholarship makes Notre Dame possible for me,” Smith said.  “I know that without this scholarship, I would not be able to afford a school like Notre Dame.”

The 2017 Lilly Scholarship Selection Committee was made up of Beth Styers, Chair, Carol Bowen, Kay Finlay, Scott Joyner, Tom Rohr and John Small Jr. and recommended one finalist and two alternates to the Board of Directors of the Marshall County Community Foundation.  The application pool was a cross-section of the diversity of talent, academic excellence and exceptional ability of high school seniors in Marshall County.

“As a Foundation Board member, my favorite duty is the interview and nomination process of the Marshall County Lilly Scholars,” said Beth Styers, Chair of the local Lilly Scholarship Committee. “It gives me such hope for the future of our community.”

The Independent Colleges of Indiana, a nonprofit corporation that represents 31 regionally accredited colleges and universities in the state, administers the scholarship program statewide on behalf of the Lilly Endowment. The Lilly Endowment Initiative works to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education.  Indiana ranks among the lowest states in the percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree. 

Looking to her future as a Lilly Scholar, Smith concludes, “In the next 10 years, I hope to become more involved in connecting our community to other communities. I hope that the opportunities I have at Notre Dame will allow me to make these connections.”