Regan Brouwer Is A 2022 Lilly Endowment Scholar
December 15, 2021 at 2:32 a.m.
Regan Brouwer Is A 2022 Lilly Endowment Scholar
By David [email protected]
“I’m really excited. I’m really grateful. I’m happy,” the Warsaw Community High School senior said after Kosciusko County Community Foundation Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Overbey made the presentation. “I’m kind of speechless.”
Jennifer Brouwer, Regan’s mother who got to witness the surprise presentation along with her other daughter Elle, said she was as surprised as Regan.
“I’m just so grateful for the community, the extraordinary teachers and coaches she’s had along the way, and how much people have always supported Regan and our family,” Jennifer said.
She attributed Regan’s community involvement and good grades to the teachers, coaches and community members who have “always steered Regan in the right direction.”
There are two Lilly Endowment Scholarships awarded in Kosciusko County annually. The second recipient will be announced later this week.
In making the presentation to Regan at WCHS Tuesday, Overbey said, “This is one of my very favorite things of the year every year. I get to feel a little bit like Ed McMahon.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition and fee scholarship to the Indiana college or university of the recipient’s choice. In Kosciusko County, the recommendation process is done “blindly,” meaning a volunteer committee of scholarship reviewers – not Foundation staff – do not have access to student names or photos when reviewing the applications.
“In our community, the recipient is chosen first and foremost on community service, but also on academic excellence, extracurricular involvement, work experiences, references and essay responses,” Overbey said.
She said Regan is “an outstanding student academically with – at the time of her application – a 4.49 GPA.”
Regan takes part in many extracurricular and volunteer activities, including the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, Hoosier Riverwatch, 4-H, student council, cross country, tennis, swimming and sailing. She also works for her family’s business, Brouwer’s Carpet & Furniture, and teaches tennis at Tippecanoe Country Club.
Overbey said Regan’s references describe her as resilient after losing her father, Brad Brouwer, to cancer when she was 12. She also was described by her references as positive, empathetic and a natural leader.
Regan will use the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship to either attend the University of Notre Dame or Indiana University to study environmental science.
Regan said she wants to go into environmental studies because, “I work a lot with water quality in the community and I’d like to continue to do that.”
Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert told her, “Congratulations! It’s always a huge deal when Warsaw Community Schools is awarded a Lilly Scholarship, so thank you for representing Warsaw Community Schools. Thank you for your positive attitude. Thank you for your positive grades. Just congratulations. It’s such a huge, huge significant thing, for not only you but also Warsaw Community Schools’ environment, so thank you and congratulations. We’re excited to see the amazing things that you’re going to do in these next steps. We’re going to be celebrating along with you.”
According to a news release provided from the Community Foundation, the Scholarship committee considered 64 candidates before recommending the two finalists. “It was heart warming and uplifting to see the substantial impact these young people are having in our community,” the committee chairperson said in a statement. The committee is made up of anonymous members from across the county.
Once the committee selects the finalists, the Community Foundation submits these applicants to Independent College of Indiana, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, for the final selection of recipients.
Annually, since 1998, Lilly Endowment Inc. has funded the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education in the belief that education is indispensable to the personal, civic and economic well-being of Indiana communities and residents, the release states. Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by members of the Lilly family through stock gifts of their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly Endowment Inc. supports community development, education, youth and religion.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program is administered by Independent Colleges of Indiana, which serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities.
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“I’m really excited. I’m really grateful. I’m happy,” the Warsaw Community High School senior said after Kosciusko County Community Foundation Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Overbey made the presentation. “I’m kind of speechless.”
Jennifer Brouwer, Regan’s mother who got to witness the surprise presentation along with her other daughter Elle, said she was as surprised as Regan.
“I’m just so grateful for the community, the extraordinary teachers and coaches she’s had along the way, and how much people have always supported Regan and our family,” Jennifer said.
She attributed Regan’s community involvement and good grades to the teachers, coaches and community members who have “always steered Regan in the right direction.”
There are two Lilly Endowment Scholarships awarded in Kosciusko County annually. The second recipient will be announced later this week.
In making the presentation to Regan at WCHS Tuesday, Overbey said, “This is one of my very favorite things of the year every year. I get to feel a little bit like Ed McMahon.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition and fee scholarship to the Indiana college or university of the recipient’s choice. In Kosciusko County, the recommendation process is done “blindly,” meaning a volunteer committee of scholarship reviewers – not Foundation staff – do not have access to student names or photos when reviewing the applications.
“In our community, the recipient is chosen first and foremost on community service, but also on academic excellence, extracurricular involvement, work experiences, references and essay responses,” Overbey said.
She said Regan is “an outstanding student academically with – at the time of her application – a 4.49 GPA.”
Regan takes part in many extracurricular and volunteer activities, including the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, Hoosier Riverwatch, 4-H, student council, cross country, tennis, swimming and sailing. She also works for her family’s business, Brouwer’s Carpet & Furniture, and teaches tennis at Tippecanoe Country Club.
Overbey said Regan’s references describe her as resilient after losing her father, Brad Brouwer, to cancer when she was 12. She also was described by her references as positive, empathetic and a natural leader.
Regan will use the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship to either attend the University of Notre Dame or Indiana University to study environmental science.
Regan said she wants to go into environmental studies because, “I work a lot with water quality in the community and I’d like to continue to do that.”
Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert told her, “Congratulations! It’s always a huge deal when Warsaw Community Schools is awarded a Lilly Scholarship, so thank you for representing Warsaw Community Schools. Thank you for your positive attitude. Thank you for your positive grades. Just congratulations. It’s such a huge, huge significant thing, for not only you but also Warsaw Community Schools’ environment, so thank you and congratulations. We’re excited to see the amazing things that you’re going to do in these next steps. We’re going to be celebrating along with you.”
According to a news release provided from the Community Foundation, the Scholarship committee considered 64 candidates before recommending the two finalists. “It was heart warming and uplifting to see the substantial impact these young people are having in our community,” the committee chairperson said in a statement. The committee is made up of anonymous members from across the county.
Once the committee selects the finalists, the Community Foundation submits these applicants to Independent College of Indiana, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, for the final selection of recipients.
Annually, since 1998, Lilly Endowment Inc. has funded the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education in the belief that education is indispensable to the personal, civic and economic well-being of Indiana communities and residents, the release states. Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by members of the Lilly family through stock gifts of their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly Endowment Inc. supports community development, education, youth and religion.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program is administered by Independent Colleges of Indiana, which serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities.
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