Heritage Fund has announced Columbus East High School senior Keana Wooten and Columbus North High School senior Neal White as recipients of the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Bartholomew County.
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character and leadership. Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects scholars with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities.
Both the scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and Indiana Humanities, respectively.
“It’s an honor to serve on Heritage Fund’s Lilly Scholarship Committee. These scholarships provide life-changing opportunities for local students,” said Aida Ramirez, HFBC board member and scholarship selection chair, as well as a former Lilly Scholar herself. “Both Neal and Keana impressed the committee with their commitment and drive to succeed. We know that they will do great things through their education.”
Wooten, daughter of Keesha Wooten, has been active as a youth leader and with activities at The Ridge, prom committee and Student Assembly and is a Patient Care Technician at Columbus Regional Hospital. She plans to pursue a nursing major.
White, son of Stacia Neal, has been active in cross country, track and field, Student Assembly, National Honor Society, Youth Leadership Bartholomew County and peer tutoring. He plans to pursue a computer science major.
Heritage Fund received 37 applications for this year’s scholarships, from which 10 finalists were selected. Scholarship applicants were evaluated by the selection committee on academic performance; scholastic and community involvement; employment; leadership; financial need; responses to short answer questions and a 450-word essay; two recommendations; and finalist interviews. Scholarship nominees were then submitted to the state wide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, ICI, for nomination approval.
Finalists are: from Columbus East High School: Austin Menefee and Ella Powell. From Columbus North High School: Benjamin Ferguson and Rebeca Cantu Garcia. From CSA-New Tech: Santi De Luna, Sydney Morrow and Dane Tibbs. From Hauser Jr-Sr High School: Samantha Holzer.
Lilly Endowment Inc. created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1997-98 school year. Since then, grant funding in excess of $490 million has supported more than 5,300 Indiana students who have received scholarships through the program.
The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
To date, 57 Bartholomew County students have been named Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.
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