2022 Lilly Endowment Scholars announced
Kosciusko County Community Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Kosciusko County – Regan Brouwer of Winona Lake and Ryan Brown of South Whitley. Regan and Ryan were selected from a competitive pool of candidates and were chosen based on their exceptional academic achievement, community involvement, character, and leadership.
Regan Brouwer, center, with mom Jennifer and sister Elle.
Regan Brouwer is the daughter of Jennifer Brouwer and the late Brad Brouwer. She is a senior at Warsaw Community High School and plans to attend University of Notre Dame or Indiana University to study Environmental Science.
She 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. Regan also works for her family’s business, Brouwer’s Carpet & Furniture, and teaches tennis at Tippecanoe County Club.
Having lost her father to cancer when she was just 12 years old, Regan has shown resilience in many aspects of her life and is dedicated to learning new things and being an active member of her community. Her teachers and mentors describe Regan as positive, empathetic, a natural leader and deeply committed to academic excellence.
Ryan Brown is a senior at Whitko High School and is the son of Neal and Katie Brown. Ryan plans to attend Purdue University where he will study Agricultural Science. He is ranked in the top ten of his graduating class and an accomplished athlete, playing varsity baseball and basketball for Whitko.
Ryan Brown with his parents Katie and Neal, brother Jay, and sisters Ally and Amy.
Ryan is also very involved with FFA at Whitko, and was recently named ‘Top Soil Judger of the Year’ by Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District. He is a regular volunteer with the National Honor Society, 4-H, and Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church, and has worked as a farmhand and laborer.
Ryan is interested in crop production science and plans to earn his degree in agronomy in order to help farmers maximize their yield potentials. Ryan’s teachers describe him as a kind, bright student, and hard worker with a respectful attitude.
“The Scholarship Committee considered 64 stellar 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.” said the scholarship committee chairperson in a statement. The scholarship selection committee is made up of anonymous members from across the county.
Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides full tuition, fees, and an allocation for books and equipment for four years of full-time undergraduate study at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.
The selection process for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship begins at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, where committee members review the applications without access to student names. The criteria evaluated by the committee members include academic excellence, community service, extracurricular involvement, work experience, references, and essay response. Once the committee selects the finalists, the Community Foundation submits these applicants to Independent College of Indiana (ICI), 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. 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.