Lillian Bischof, Piper Cook, Michael DiBacco, Marleah Knights and Daisy Levine
were announced last week as 2019 Foundation Scholars, the highest academic
scholarship the University awards.
"We are all born with the same potential, but rarely the same opportunities," Knights
said. "While this scholarship validates my accomplishments and allows me to commit
to my future, it has inspired me to want to become a mentor - a big sister for
others that are in need of the same support that I received.
"Whether they are my fellow minorities, first-generation Americans or, simply, my
fellow West Virginians."
Watch the video above for more from the ceremony.
To qualify for the Foundation Scholarship, students must meet a rigorous set of criteria,
including holding West Virginia residency, possessing a minimum GPA of 3.8 and
achieving a minimum composite score of 30 on the ACT or the equivalent SAT score
. More than 230 high school students initially applied for the scholarship,
and of those, 20 were invited to campus for interviews. The value of the Foundation
Scholarship, when paired with the PROMISE Scholarship, is more than $90,000 over
four years.