Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern offers students $4.5 million in scholarships

Contact: Christina Chapple

3/8/07

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CAPTIONS …

(1) AREA STUDENTS HONORED AT SOUTHEASTERN – Maria Pellittieri of Ponchatoula High School, left, and Elizabeth Chauff of Archbishop Hannan, center, center, discuss Southeastern Louisiana University’s teacher education program with Beth Berry, advising coordinator in the College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Teaching and Learning at the university’s annual Scholars Showcase on Feb. 26. Pellittieri and Chauff were among approximately 80 top area high school students attending the annual banquet and recognition ceremony, which honors high school seniors offered scholarships to attend Southeastern.

(2) MAUREPAS STUDENT HONORED AT SOUTHEASTERN – Gabrielle Sanchez of Maurepas High School, center, discusses Southeastern Louisiana University’s nursing program with Barbara Moffett, left, head of the School of Nursing, and Paula Currie, head of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, at the university=s annual Scholars Showcase on Feb. 26. Sanchez was among approximately 80 top area high school students attending the annual banquet and recognition ceremony, which honors high school seniors offered scholarships to attend Southeastern.

(3) WATSON STUDENT HONORED AT SOUTHEASTERN – Christina Borne of Watson, a Live Oak High School senior, tells Daniel McCarthy, dean of Southeastern Louisiana University’s College of Science and Technology, about her plans to major in biology at the university’s annual Scholars Showcase on Feb. 26. Borne was among approximately 80 top area high school students attending the annual banquet and recognition ceremony, which honors high school seniors offered scholarships to attend Southeastern.

(4) GONZALES STUDENT HONORED AT SOUTHEASTERN – Jordan Shaddinger of Gonzales, a senior at East Ascension High School, far right, and her parents Scott and Sandi Shaddinger, discuss Southeastern Louisiana University’s Honors Program with Director Kent Neuerburg, left, at the university’s annual Scholars Showcase on Feb. 26. Shaddinger was among approximately 80 top area high school students attending the annual banquet and recognition ceremony, which honors high school seniors offered scholarships to attend Southeastern.

      HAMMOND – More than $4.5 million in potential scholarships to Southeastern Louisiana University over the next four years were announced at the university’s Scholars Showcase, an event designed to honor outstanding high school seniors who are considering attending the institution.

     More than 225 top high school seniors from 86 schools in 26 parishes and three states were offered the scholarships that were announced at the annual event Feb. 26 at Twelve Oaks. Approximately 80 area students and their parents attended the banquet held in their honor.

     Southeastern President Randy Moffett said that top students will be offered $1,686,000 in scholarships over the next four years through Southeastern, its foundation, and the University of Louisiana System. Combined with state TOPS scholarships, the students, who have an average ACT composite score of 26.5, will receive a total of $4.5 million in scholarship funding over the next four years.

     “Southeastern takes pride in the fact that we have been ahead of the academic curve by being one of the first institutions in our system to implement admissions standards,” Moffett said. “

     We intend to keep raising the bar academically, because our goal is to be one of the finest regional universities in the nation.”

     Moffett said last fall’s freshmen class of approximately 3,000 students was the largest in university history and that current application numbers indicate that the fall 2007 class could set yet another record. The number of freshmen applications is currently 18 percent higher than totals a year ago, he said.

     The students and parents also heard from Lauren Stirling, a senior biological science major from Hammond. A 2003 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School and a 4.0 grade point average scholar at Southeastern, Stirling has been awarded an $80,000 scholarship by the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where she will study optometry after graduating in May. UAB awards only one scholarship annually to a Louisiana student.

     Stirling told the high school seniors that when she attended the Scholar Showcase four years ago she was “undecided” about her choice of a university, but leaning away from Southeastern, where she had “grown up on campus” as the child of a faculty member. After visiting a number of schools in and out of state, however, she turned down their scholarship offers and chose Southeastern.

     “I had a light bulb moment,” she said, “when I realized that Southeastern had the strong academics, small school environment, safe affordable housing, opportunities for leadership and social life – and the scholarships – that I wanted. It was one of the best decisions of my life.”

     Gabrielle Sanchez, a senior at Maurepas High School, was impressed by Stirling’s testimonial. Although she has been offered a scholarship at a private institution, “I may have changed my mind after hearing her,” said Sanchez, as she and her mother Lynn browsed academic displays following the program. Sanchez plans to major in nursing.

     “I plan to major in mass communication and talked to some of the disc jockeys back home,” said East Ascension High School senior Jordan Shaddinger of Gonzales. “They knew about Southeastern’s program and recommended it to me. The equipment here is modern and up-to-date.”

     “I want to major in biology because I plan on going into dentistry,” Christina Borne of Watson, a Live Oak High School senior, told Daniel McCarthy, dean of the College of Science and Technology. After Southeastern’s recent Senior Day, “I decided to come to Southeastern because the scholarship offer is great and it’s not that far from home,” she said. “The smaller class sizes convinced me, because I learn better that way.”

     Area students attending the Scholar Showcase, listed by high school, were:

     ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL – Jacob Erdey, Haley Parrill

     ARCHBISHOP BLENK HIGH SCHOOL – Christine Ouder

     ARCHBISHOP CHAPELLE HIGH SCHOOL – Ashley Brocato

     ARCHBISHOP HANNAN HIGH SCHOOL – Elizabeth Chauff

     ARCHBISHOP RUMMELL HIGH SCHOOL – Douglas Blythe, Alex Vazquez

     BATON ROUGE HIGH MAGNET – Marjorie Hurder

     CABRINI HIGH SCHOOL – Danielle Dimaggio

     CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL – Ashton Herron, Amanda Quick

     CENTRAL PRIVATE SCHOOL – Candace Fletcher

     COVINGTON HIGH SCHOOL – Ashlee Fritscher, Alexandra Love

     DENHAM SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL – Lee-Ann Ryan

     DESTREHAN HIGH SCHOOL – Jade Salmeron

     EAST ASCENSION HIGH SCHOOL – Jordan Shaddinger

     FISCHER MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL – Tyler Boutte

     FONTAINEBLEAU HIGH SCHOOL – Suzannah Cassanova, Heather Hughes, Lauren Kennedy

     H.L. BOURGEOIS HIGH SCHOOL – Amanda Rodriguez

     HAHNVILLE HIGH SCHOOL – Kali Brou, Caitlyn Haynes

     HAMMOND HIGH SCHOOL – Andrew Magee, Simon Roig Vacas

     HOME SCHOOL – Jonathan Fussell, Rachel Magnuson, Laura Marbry, Katie Montelepre, Megan Mosher

     HOSANNA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY – Simone Burdette

     INDEPENDENCE HIGH SCHOOL – Cole Click, Kristina Nuccio

     JENA HIGH SCHOOL – Ronald Finch

     JEWEL M. SUMNER HIGH SCHOOL – Lucius Morris

     LIVE OAK HIGH SCHOOL – Angela Arneal, Christina Borne, Kristen Brent

     LORANGER HIGH SCHOOL – Taylor Boudreaux, Jessica Huhn, Angela Overmier

     MANDEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL – Austin Grant

     MAUREPAS HIGH SCHOOL – Gabrielle Sanchez

     MINNEHAHA ACADEMY – Katelin Langley

     NORTHSHORE HIGH SCHOOL – Robert Barnes, Kelly Costello, Jennifer Kimball, Kembra Smith

     PARKVIEW BAPTIST SCHOOL – Heather Braithwaite

     PONCHATOULA HIGH SCHOOL – Ryan Church, Lindsey Doctor, Christopher Hill, Matthew Kozel, Jules Lagan, Maria Pellittieri, Jerrica Rogers, Chad Sziszak, Nadia Ziadeh

     RIVERDALE HIGH SCHOOL – Fay Boudreaux

     RUNNELS HIGH SCHOOL – Amber Faucheux, Kathryn Segalla

     SLIDELL HIGH SCHOOL – Adam-Elliott Cusimano, Mary Johnsen

     ST. AMANT HIGH SCHOOL – Justin Triplett

     ST. CHARLES CATHOLIC HIGH – Lindsey Eichhorn

     ST. MARY’S DOMINICAN HIGH – Jennifer Guccione

     ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL HIGH – Megan Guedry, Ashleigh Smith

     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS HIGH SCHOOL – Brett Bittola

     SULPHUR HIGH SCHOOL – Shea Mereo

     TERREBONNE HIGH SCHOOL – Erin Mire

     URSULINE ACADEMY – Sandra Harbison

     VANDEBILT CATHOLIC HIGH – Elizabeth Prosperie

     WALKER HIGH SCHOOL – Angelina Chenevert, Sarah Golmon

     WEST FELICIANA HIGH SCHOOL – Patti Pittman

     ZACHARY HIGH SCHOOL – Stacie Ralp