The Community Foundation of Switzerland County, Inc., has announced that senior Robin Furnish is this year’s recipient of the Lilly Endowment Scholarship.
Robin Furnish is the daughter of Robert and Cheryl Furnish of near Vevay. She is the co-Vice President of the Switzerland County FFA chapter, and also serves as the Indiana FFA District XII treasurer.
She is the team captain of the Lady Pacer cross country team; and is the secretary of the National Honor Society.
Outside of school, Robin is very involved in 4-H and serves as the co-President of her club. She has also volunteered her time for many different community organizations and works on her family farm.
Robin Furnish plans on attending either IUPUI or Trine University in the fall and majoring in biomedical engineering.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides full tuition for four years of undergraduate study leading to a baccalaureate degree. It also covers all required fees and up to $900 per year for required books and equipment. Students receiving the scholarship must attend an Indiana public or private college or university accredited by the North Central Association of College and Schools.
The Community Foundation’s selection committee reviewed seven applications this year. The applicants were evaluated on academics, financial need, activities (school activities, community service, and work experience), and writing samples. All four of the evaluation criteria were worth 25-percent each.
The selection committee used a blind process to evaluate the applications, meaning committee members did not know whose applications they were evaluating. After the Community Foundation’s selection committee selected the recipient, they submitted their recommendation to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), who makes the final decision on the scholarship recipient.
ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 31 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state. Lilly Endowment, Inc. contracts with them to administer the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program is the result of a statewide Lilly Endowment, Inc. initiative 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. There were 143 scholarships awarded statewide this year.
Anyone interested in learning more information about the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program can contact Pam Acton or Melissa Andrew at the Community Foundation’s office. It is located at 303 Ferry Street in Vevay and can be reached at (812) 427-9160, or info@cfsci.org.