EMPORIA, -- The generosity of Augusta Shepherd (BSB '44 Business Administration) and her late husband, R. Hershel Shepherd, continues with Emporia State's newest Shepherd Scholars.
With annual and major gifts from Augusta, son Jim Shepherd, daughter Joyce and Craig French, daughter Judy and David Hawkins, and the family businesses, the initial $150,000 gift in 1994 has grown.
Each year since 1995, the Shepherd Scholars Program has honored Emporia State's most outstanding students, as determined through a robust and competitive application process. Normally, the new Scholars meet the Shepherd family during a luncheon at the Sauder Alumni Center. This year, with campus closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting came via Zoom.
Shepherd Scholars from this area are:
Kirstan DeVore, a Mathematics Education major from Inman
Bobbi Rookstool, an English Education and Journalism major from Clay Center
Eligible students have maintained a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, meet, at a minimum, the traditional definition of "junior" classification by having completed at least 60 credit hours at the time of application, and have at least two semesters' worth of coursework remaining before graduation.