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Release Date:

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Rotary Club of Dearborn donates $60K in scholarships to 24 high school seniors

Members of the Rotary Club of Dearborn meet via Zoom. This photo was part of an advertisement in the Dearborn Press and Guide to honor 24 high school seniors who were awarded scholarships from Rotary. Among the Rotarians pictured who have HFC ties are Dr. Eric Rader (second row, far right), the current president of Rotary, and James Thorpe (bottom row, far left), a member of the HFC Board of Trustees. In the center of the bottom row is Rick L. Goward, founder/director of the HFC Big Band.

Usually, at this time of year, the Rotary Club of Dearborn hosts a ceremonial dinner in the Community Rooms of HFC’s Welcome Center to celebrate the winners of its annual scholarships.

This annual celebration is not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, Rotary wanted to honor 24 high school seniors in the city of Dearborn who will receive more than $60,000 in scholarships to pursue higher education. These seniors were recognized in an advertisement that ran in the April 26 edition of the Dearborn Press and Guide.

Scholarships range from $2,000 to $8,500

Some of these students were either dual enrolled at HFC, attended the Henry Ford Collegiate Academy (HFCA), or attended the Henry Ford Early College (HFEC). Some of these students will continue attending HFC in the fall.

Scholarships are awarded in four merit-based categories. Each award category is endowed by or honors a past Dearborn Rotarian, who recognized the importance of education and wanted to pay their own success forward by helping outstanding youth with college expenses. Award amounts range from $2,000 to $8,500, which can be used for tuition, books, and class fees.

Scholarship winners demonstrate high academic standards and leadership

David Anderson, Rotary’s director of vocational services, chaired this year’s scholarship committee. His duties included recruiting and appointing scholarship chairs, coordinators and liaisons for the scholarship programs and providing regular updates to the Dearborn Rotary Foundation, which administers the scholarship funds.

“It’s a team effort and big undertaking on everyone’s part. The scholarship chairs and their committees spent considerable time reviewing the applications, scoring, and making the final selections,” said Anderson. “It’s highly satisfying for all of us to realize how many outstanding students we have in Dearborn. Our winners are not only maintaining high academic standards, they’re demonstrating service and leadership as well.”

HFC political science professor/current Rotary president Dr. Eric Rader credited Lee Hollman, Rotary’s past president, with taking on the monumental task of organizing and documenting the club’s scholarship selection process.

“Lee also serves as a liaison for the HFC nursing scholarships selected by the HFC nursing department,” said Rader.

Rotary has awarded more than $535,000 in scholarships since 1999

Since 1999, the Dearborn Rotary Foundation has awarded a total of more than $535,000 in scholarships. Information about each of the Dearborn Rotary scholarships is available on its website. Completed applications are due in mid-January of each year with committee selections finalized in March.

“Dearborn Rotarians always look forward to the annual celebration of our scholarship winners,” said Rader. “We are very sorry that we can’t celebrate their awards with them in person this year. The announcement in the Press and Guide was our way of publicly congratulating these impressive Dearborn students. We know that their senior year isn’t ending the way they hoped, but we hope they know how proud of them we are. The Rotary Club of Dearborn has long supported our community’s high school and college students, and we will carry on that tradition in the years ahead.”