Thirty of West Virginia Universitys incoming freshmen all former student body presidents at their high schools will benefit from a $1,000 Mountaineer Parents Club scholarship this fall.

Awarded annually by the Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund of the WVU Alumni Association, the two-year $1,000 scholarships are awarded to West Virginia high school seniors who served as student body presidents. The scholarship is renewable for the students junior and senior years of college based on certain criteria, such as academics, financial need and involvement in campus activities.

“We are pleased that the Board of the Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund of the WVU Alumni Association has provided funds for scholarships that encourage outstanding West Virginia high school seniors to attend WVU ,”said national Mountaineer Parents Club Chair Susan Hardesty.”These scholarships also enable us to inform parents throughout West Virginia about our organization.”Parents of scholarship recipients will automatically become members of the Mountaineer Parents Club and presented with a complimentary lapel pin. The pin, in the form of the official logo of the Mountaineer Parents Club, is a gold heart surrounding a navy blue”Flying WV,”meant to symbolize the love of all WVU families for their children and their ties to WVU .

The Mountaineer Parents Club was created in July of 1995 by WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. and his wife, Susan, under the umbrella of the WVU Alumni Association. The goal of the Mountaineer Parents Club is to establish a network of parents in areas where WVU students reside.

In the five years since its inception, the Mountaineer Parents Club has grown to more than 8,000 families, with 64 local clubs and 17 state chairs coast-to-coast that keep families connected to WVU .

Membership in the Mountaineer Parents Club is free and enables parents to be more actively involved in their student’s education and life at WVU . Local clubs design programs to support student activities, host social events, sponsor activities to welcome new students and their families to the WVU community and provide opportunities for parents to hear guest speakers on topics related to University life.

Other initiatives of the Mountaineer Parents Club include a helpline (1-800-WVU-0096), a parents newsletter which is printed and distributed three times a year and a Leisure Reading Library with approximately 1,300 recent fiction and non-fiction hardbacks located in a special section of WVU ’s Wise Library.

For information about this scholarship or joining the Mountaineer Parents Club, call 304-293-2506, or see the WVU Mountaineer Parents Club website:http://www.wvu.edu/~parents/.

This years Mountaineer Parents Club Scholarship recipients are:

Barbour County Kristin Stemple, Phillip Barbour High School

Boone County Tarah Hager, Scott High School

Braxton County Stacey Hamric, Braxton County High School

Brooke County Aaron Lastoria, Brooke High School

Calhoun County Melissa Law, Calhoun County High School

Grant County Jared Jones, Union High School

Hampshire County Amanda Johnson, Hampshire High School

Hancock County Lindsay Amos, Oak Glen High School; Gina LaMantia, Madonna High School

Harrison County Michael Nicholas, Notre Dame High School;Jana Ross, Liberty High School

Jackson County Tessa Gorrell, Ripley High School

Lewis County Julie Foster, Lewis County High School

Lincoln County Sara Linville, Hamlin High School

Logan County Shannon Hensley, Chapmanville High School

Marion County Blaire Nuzum, East Fairmont High School; Ashley Phillips, East Fairmont High School

Mercer County Kelly Jerrell, Bluefield High School; Mark Wood, Princeton High School

Mingo County Robert Calfee, Williamson High School;Brandi Hensley, Matewan High School; Michael Mullins, Tug Valley High School; Heath Noe, Burch High School

Monongalia County Adam Bullian, Morgantown High School

Raleigh County Amber Haynes, Shady Spring High School

Randolph County Brittany Bolyard, Harman High School

Taylor County Brooke Boetticher, Grafton High School

Wetzel County Bryan Mason, Valley High School; Jared Reed, Paden City High School

Wirt County Amanda Gant, Wirt County High School