2023 AAUW Carlisle Scholarship Recipients
Members of AAUW Carlisle gathered at Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle to honor four higher educational scholarship recipients at its annual Scholarship Banquet. This year’s scholarships are awarded in honor of Barbara “Linkey” Green, who passed away on January 6, 2023. Linkey served as Carlisle Branch President from 2015 to 2017. She was an active and dedicated member of the Scholarship Committee, and was honored by the branch with the “Outstanding Woman” award in 2015 for exemplifying the ideals of AAUW, for showing commitment to the community, and for being an inspiration and role model for branch members. She was also instrumental in establishing the AAUW Student Organization at Dickinson College, and under her leadership, the branch began supporting Camp Invention.
AAUW Scholarship Committee Chair, Lillian Wong, introduced this year’s Linkey Green Scholarship recipients to the assembled members.
Lily Bistine, a graduate of Boiling Springs High School, is now finishing her junior year at Loyola University in Maryland. Preparing for a career in mental health, she studies psychology and maintains a superior academic standing while also competing with the school’s Patriot League diving team.
Samantha Martin is a two-time AAUW Carlisle scholarship recipient. Now a junior at Gettysburg College with a triple major in Political Science, Public Policy, and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She also minors in Peace and Justice Studies. A graduate of Carlisle High school, she has worked with the branch to help plan the Women’s Rally on the Square in 2019. Samantha hopes to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree after graduation next year.
Claire Stoner is a graduate of Cumberland Valley High School in 2020. She is enrolled in the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, and has propelled herself into an accelerated program where she will graduate in three and a half years. She positions herself to receive a master’s degree and will sit for the CPA exam in the fall of 2024. This is her third AAUW Carlisle scholarship award.
Lauren Stroup is currently a student at Wilson College. She graduated from Big Spring High School in 2009 and then attended Franklin County Career and Technology Practical Nursing Program, as well as taking classes at HACC in the LPN and RN programs. At Wilson, she is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
2021
Meta Bowman
Meta Bowman is a repeat winner of our AAUW Scholarship. Now in her second year of the Master of Social Work program at Shippensburg University, Meta recently concluded her first field placement helping women with families find permanent housing and providing other support services. She hopes to use her Master’s degree to work with marginalized and oppressed people on both the macro and micro levels through policy initiatives to facilitate social change and by providing direct services to clients. Meta currently works two part-time jobs while also homeschooling her son during the pandemic. She is a 2003 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Dickinson College in Art and Art History, and French and Francophone Studies.
Bailey Jones
Have you heard of a 3-peat? That would describe Bailey Jones, who is receiving an AAUW Scholarship for the third year. Bailey is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to her academic work, Bailey has completed three internships at Volvo Construction Equipment and Harley Davidson. She has chaired a Girl Scout Engineering Day to spark interest in STEM fields, and she has worked as a lab-teaching assistant for a mechanical design class. Bailey is a hardworking self-starter whose ambition, efficiency, enthusiasm, and resiliency will surely lead her to a bright future in this field.
Makenzie Sayers
Makenzie Sayers is a senior Family & Consumer Science Education major at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her overall GPA of 3.79 is a testament to her strong work ethic and motivation to succeed. She has maintained this high GPA while holding down part-time jobs to help fund her education. She also organized and taught paint nights for students and community groups as another source of income. Makenzie demonstrated her leadership abilities as President and Social Media Coordination of the FCS Education Student Association. She will proudly tell you that she said: “Yes to FCS!”
Her undergraduate research project, “Drink and Wear Kombucha? A Sustainable Approach to Fashion” took Makenzie into the realm of textile science, particularly SCOBY, the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. She presented her research and her SCOBY textile handbag at IUP’s Undergraduate Scholars’ Forum and to the International Textile and Apparel Association. Makenzie is working to land a position as an FCS teacher, hopefully in central Pennsylvania.
Claire Stoner
Claire Stoner has always been a child shooting for the stars believing that anything is possible if she works hard enough for it. Currently, she has finished her freshman year as an accounting major at Duquesne University. One of her professors stated that Claire was the top student in all of her accounting courses first semester. At Duquesne, she is the Social Engagement chair for Freshman Council, a mentor for 3rd and 4th-grade girls at Westwood School District, and a member of the Association of Information Systems, the student accounting association, and Christians in Action. She is also working on publishing a research paper with her mentor Dr. Karoly Bozan. During the challenging time of Covid, she helped her small family-owned business. She truly exemplifies that if she works hard enough the seemingly impossible becomes possible.
2020
In lie
u of holding our Scholarship Banquet in April (victim of COVID-19 lockdown), we published this summary — 2020 Higher Education Scholarship Recipient Introductions. Read to learn more about these amazing women we are so pleased to honor.
Meta Bowman, Master’s Degree in Social Work, Shippensburg University.
Angelica Brill, Community Environment and Development, Penn State University, University Park campus.
Madeleine Davis, majors in Environmental Sustainability with minors in Psychology and Spanish, Shippensburg University.
Gabrielle Dietrich, Social Work, Shippensburg University.
Bailey Jones Mechanical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh.
Megan Rozmajzl, Physician Assistant, Salus University.
2019
Read more about the recipients and celebration here.
Johanna Bear, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Theatre, Franklin and Marshall College.
Bailey Jones, Mechanical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh.
Makayla Glass, accounting, John L. Grove College of Business at Shippensburg University.
Darien Kase, pediatric nursing, Penn State University.
Lt. Col. Edward J. “Woodie” Collins Memorial Scholarship, Carlie Antes
art therapy combined with psychology, Marywood University
2018
Makayla Glass, accounting, John L. Grove College of Business at Shippensburg University.
Darien Kase, pediatric nursing, Penn State University.
Rebekah Vensel, major in Music Industry, Loyola University in New Orleans.
Yeun Yen Lee Wong Memorial Scholarship, Ciera Rhodes, Nursing, Wilson College.
The Yeun Yen Lee Wong Memorial Scholarship, was introduced. Dr. Lillian Wong, and AAUW Carlisle member, offered the scholarship in honor and in memory of her mother who valued education though she herself lacked any formal education. The scholarship hopes to reflect the impact and importance of education for women and girls. This scholarship is given to a candidate who graduated with a STEM degree and is currently pursuing a second degree in a health field.
2017
Alyssa Jones, Physician’s Assistant Program, Penn State Hershey College of Medicine.
Ciera Rhodes, Nursing, Wilson College.
Morgan Seifert, Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Penn State University
Alexandria Shope , Communications Design, Kutztown University.
Joann B. Ketterer Memorial Scholarship, Lynn Finkenbinder, Food Service, Penn State University.
AAUW Carlisle presented a Memorial Scholarship honoring Joann B. Ketterer, a branch member and past membership co-chair. A resident of Newville, she was a Penn State University graduate, and taught Home Economics at Shippensburg High School and the Adams County Extension Office. Active in the Pennsylvania and Cumberland County Farm Women, the Shippensburg Fair Exhibitors and the Future Home Economics of America, Joann was an enthusiastic supporter of the AAUW Branch scholarship program.
2016
Alyssa Jones, Physician Assistant, Penn State College of Medicine
Miranda Clash, Early Childhood Education, Elizabethtown College
Kelsey Dutka, Pharmacy, Duquesne University
Crystal Van, Marketing, Temple University
2015
Biology and Health Care Studies, Susquehanna University
Police Academy, Harrisburg Area Community College
American Studies, Penn State University- Harrisburg
2014
Communications, Penn State University-Harrisburg
Speech-Language Pathology, Misericordia University
American Studies, Penn State University-Harrisburg
2013
Applied Clinical Psychology, Penn State University-Harrisburg
Occupational Therapy, Mt. Aloysius College
2012
Communications, Millersville University
Nursing, Penn State University