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HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

University, YFC select first six scholarship recipients

FOR RELEASE April 23, 2008

Huntington, Ind.—The interview selection committee for the Horizon Leadership Program has chosen the first six students who will enroll at Huntington University in the fall of 2008.

The Horizon Leadership Program is a partnership between Huntington University and Youth for Christ with the goal of creating a more ethnically and culturally diverse campus.

The following students will receive the Horizon Scholarship, a combination of state, federal and institutional aid that covers tuition and fees as well as room and board:

Teirenney Fincher

Teirenney Fincher
Elmhurst High School
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Proposed major: social work
Activities: captain of Elmhurst High School girls’ basketball team, secretary of Jobs for America’s Graduates, secretary of her church youth choir

Juan Lopez

Juan Lopez
South Side High School
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Proposed major: graphic design
Activities: Youth for Christ Primetime Center volunteer, soccer team, foreign language club, visual arts and ceramics

Shar’Niese Miller

Shar’Niese Miller
South Side High School
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Proposed major: psychology
Activities: Key Club member, president of Friends of Dorothy, student council

Evianna Monroe

Evianna Monroe
Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music
Bronx, N.Y.
Proposed major: English and history
Other interests include creative writing and music.
Activities: first chair cellist in high school orchestra, cello section leader in major orchestra, Walton Step Team, teaches dance to children at a community center

Logan Placencia

Logan Placencia
Lakewood Christian Academy
Auburn, Ind.
Proposed major: elementary education
Activities: National Honor Society, teaches Spanish to first graders, vice chair of the community relations community for the March of Dimes Chain Reaction

Ebony Robinson

Ebony Robinson
Elmhurst High School
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Proposed major: applied exercise science
Activities: president of Jobs for America’s Graduates program, coached children in a sports program at Taylor University, leader of a children’s group

“We hope this core group will have a ripple effect for a diversity movement across campus,” said Jeff Berggren, vice president of enrollment management and marketing.

The Horizon Leadership Program will encourage the holistic development of these student leaders through “CAPSS” – community service, academics, professional/leadership development, spirituality and socialization.

Students in the program will be required to maintain a 2.5 grade point average, meet with the director of the program weekly and volunteer at the Primetime Center in Fort Wayne.

The Primetime Center is the urban division of Fort Wayne Area Youth for Christ. The center features various programs, including City Life. City Life offers tutoring and assistance in economic, health, spiritual and social development. Students in the Horizon Leadership Program will work with participants in City Life.

“The Horizon students already are plugged into volunteer activities in their area,” said Luther Whitfield, senior director of urban ministries for Fort Wayne Area Youth for Christ. “We want to take those students and connect them to kids at the center so that they can be peer models, build relationships and become positive role models. We want them to pour back into the community and into students close to their age, giving them the opportunity to nurture future leaders.”

Students will be exposed to leadership activities within Youth for Christ at various sites in the Midwest. At the end of the fall and spring semesters, they will participate in leadership cohort retreats. They will receive professional leadership training from the university’s Enterprise Resource Center and the Career Development Office. In addition, students will have the option of becoming involved with the Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service at Huntington University.

Prior to their acceptance in the program, each student completed an application and then was invited to visit Huntington University’s campus. Events for the visit days included a breakfast, question-and-answer sessions for students and parents/guardians, a campus tour, chapel, lunch and student interviews with the selection committee.

The university hopes that those who were not selected for the program from the group of 10 applicants will still consider Huntington.

“Our intention is to enroll many of the non-awardees also because they are a good group of folks and will qualify for a number of institutional, federal and state aid programs,” Berggren said.

The goal is to have 24 Horizon Leadership Program students on campus, six students in each class – freshman, sophomore, junior and senior – in addition to tracking the students who came to Huntington despite not receiving the Horizon Scholarship.

For more information about the Horizon Leadership Program, contact Amber Brown, director, at (260) 359-4032.

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

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