Scholarships and Awards for Academic Excellence and Achievement
Henry W. and Edna Austin Awards
State Senator Henry W. and (Mrs.) Edna Austin of Oak Park, Illinois, provided funds for these awards honoring fine academic performances by Berea College students. To receive an Austin scholarship or to be selected as an Austin Scholar is a significant recognition of academic and personal excellence. Austin Scholarships recipients are chosen from the sophomore class and are eligible to become Austin Scholars. Austin Scholars are members of the junior and senior classes. A student may be selected only once as an Austin Scholar.
Lyle and Dorothy Ferer Cary Award for Excellence in Writing
The Lyle and Dorothy Ferer Cary Award is to be presented to Berea College juniors and/or seniors who have achieved excellence in writing. The form of writing may be scholarly or creative, and may be in response to a class assignment or independently conceived.
Helen Dingman Book Awards
Helen Dingman awards recognize students (or groups of up to five students) whose achievements or accomplishments reflect the effective synthesis of any two of these three components of a Berea College education: learning, labor, and service. The awards are made possible through the generosity of a college patron wishing to honor Helen Dingman, a professor of sociology (then called Social Work) at the College. Among her many accomplishments, Professor Dingman established the College’s Opportunity School Program, based on the Danish Folk School pattern, with traveling seminars in the region as well as on campus.
Jerome W. Hughes Humanities Enrichment Award
The Jerome W. Hughes Humanities Enrichment Award was established by family, friends, and former students of Dr. Jerome W. Hughes, professor emeritus of English at Berea College. The purpose of the award is to support a variety of experiences in the arts to enrich students’ appreciation of the humanities.
Father Henry L. Parker Scholarship
This scholarship is given to students of African descent who demonstrate high academic achievement and ethnic pride, as did Father Parker. The students apply their faith to everyday living, especially in promoting interracial and multi-cultural understanding.
Phi Kappa Phi Scholar
The purposes of this national honor society are to recognize high scholarship and character of students in all departments and areas, to foster the significant purposes for which institutions of higher learning have been founded, and to stimulate academic achievement. The Berea Chapter was chartered in 1953.
Doris and Harold Rosenbaum Scholarship
The Rosenbaum Scholarship was established in 1994 to assist students who have been accepted by or are eligible candidates for enrollment in the nation’s leading graduate and professional programs.
Olive Ruth Russell Fellowship
This award was established in honor of Ms. Olive Ruth Russell by Mrs. Ruth L. Roettinger. The fellowship is presented to women with outstanding academic records who present a defined plan to pursue graduate study in any academic discipline.
Seabury Award
Seabury Awards are given to one male and one female graduating senior who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship, as well as community leadership, on the Berea campus. The awards are to provide aid for graduate study or travel.
Frances Finnell Vandivier Scholarship
This scholarship was established in 1988 to honor Frances Finnell Vandivier. A graduate of Berea College, Mrs. Vandivier was a compassionate advocate for children in her teaching, writing, and community service throughout her life. This scholarship is given to assist Berea College graduating seniors with continuing their education in the field of child development, childcare, and/or advocacy for children, youth and families.
Wood Achievement Award
The Wood Awards are awarded annually at commencement to one graduating senior woman and one man who have demonstrated excellence in contributions to the life and work of Berea College.