Edgerley-Franklin Urban Leadership Scholarship recipients work to make urban communities better
Friday, April 21, 2017
Finalists and recipients of the 2017-2018 Edgerley-Franklin Urban Leadership Scholarship from Kansas State University. Front, from left: Gabriela De La Cruz, Jerica Garcia, Joanne Gomendoza, Ayana Belk and Nancy Lopez-Rodriguez. Back: Derrius Washington, Spencer West, Justice Catron and Jared Newell. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Five high school students from Kansas are recipients of Kansas State University's Edgerley-Franklin Urban Leadership Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding high school seniors who have made contributions to the urban communities in which they live.
Recipients of the $5,000 scholarship for the 2017-2018 school year are Ayana Belk, a senior at Lincoln College Prep Academy, and Gabriela De La Cruz, a senior at Wyandotte High School, both from Kansas City; Nancy Lopez-Rodriguez, Liberal, a senior at Liberal High School; Spencer West, Topeka, a senior at Topeka West High School; and Justice Catron, Yates Center, a senior at Chanute High School.
The university received 117 applications for the scholarship, and a selection committee chose 12 finalists to interview. Finalists participated in a recent on-campus interview and recognition day. Scholarships are renewable for up to three years with a 3.25 Kansas State University GPA. All finalists also will participate in undergraduate research through the university's Developing Scholars Program.
The following students were finalists for the Edgerley-Franklin Urban Leadership Scholarship:
Jerica Garcia, Garden City, a senior at Holcomb High School.
From Overland Park: Jaden Castinado, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School; Joanne Gomendoza, a senior at Blue Valley North High School; and Derrius Washington, a senior at Blue Valley High School.
Jared Newell, Lee's Summit, Missouri, a senior at Lee's Summit High School.
This scholarship is made possible by the Edgerley and Franklin families. Both families continuously demonstrate leadership and support of service to individuals from urban areas. It was created in memory of Bernard Franklin's wife, Elsia, who was committed to helping better the lives of young girls in urban Alabama.
The Edgerleys have been longtime supporters of Kansas State University. They have contributed to a number of scholarships, funds and faculty chairs in the past 11 years, including the Paul B. and Sandra M. Edgerley Business Administration Scholarship; the Paul B. Edgerley Chair in Business Administration; the Robert M. Edgerley Chair in International Business; the Edgerley Family Chair in the College of Business Administration; and the President Wefald Leadership Chair in the College of Business Administration.
