HAYS – Each speaker at Tuesday’s Rudd Foundation presentation at Fort Hays State University talked about grit, determination and a strong work ethic.
Those traits are the cornerstone on which the Rudd Scholarship Program was formed, and they are ones that the scholarship selection committee feels Rudd Scholars should possess.
The Rudd Foundation believes that Fort Hays State University also possesses those characteristics. Therefore, FHSU is one of three state universities chosen for Rudd Scholars to attend “because they represent the Midwestern values of grit, determination and work ethic,” said Peter Najera, president of the Rudd Foundation.
At a reception in the Robbins Center, the five new Rudd Scholars who will be attending Fort Hays State next fall were recognized.
They include Aundrea Haberer from Sylvan-Lucas Unified High School, who plans to major in agronomy, and Gage Farney from Sterling High School, who plans to major in construction management.
Nearly 900 students from around the state were among this year’s list of applicants, from which only 25 were chosen. Five will attend Emporia State University, and the remaining 15 will enroll at Wichita State University, the alma mater of the late Leslie Rudd, a Wichita native.
The scholarship is earned through a competitive selection process that requires grades, test scores, essays, letters of recommendation. The 50 semifinalists then go through a personal interview as well.
Haberer will be the third member of her family attending FHSU. Her older sister, Elaia Haberer Garrett, graduated in 2017, and their mother, Rhonda Haberer, also is a Tiger alum.
Haberer visited other colleges but said she “really liked the feel of the campus” at Fort Hays State.
Najera said he is pleased with the first two classes and looks forward to adding more and more in years to come.
“In just two more years, we will have nearly 100 Rudd Scholars on campus learning from one another,” Najera said. “And in a few years after that, they will all be networking with one another throughout the state as they continue on their trajectory of being positive contributors to our Kansas communities and society as a whole.”
