Heitor De Paula, COM 250 Reporter
MOUNT BERRY, Ga.- Berry College will introduce the new Service Fellows Scholarship for five upcoming freshmen in the fall of 2018 to begin building the program.
Berry College administration wants a group of hardworking students that will make a difference by using Berry College’s motto which says, “Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” The Service Fellows Scholarship will recognize high school students for extraordinary service and leadership in their community.
Berry College’s administration will take one-fourth of the Leadership Fellows Scholarship’s funding in the fall of 2018, so additional money will not be required. The scholarship amount will be $3,000 for the freshman year, $4,000 for the sophomore year, $5,000 for the junior year and $6,000 for the senior year.
Director of Service Fellows Lindsey Taylor said she wants future Service Fellows students to display commitment, consistency and meet requirements beyond expectations. Based on the interviews that took place on Feb. 17, 2018, Taylor said it will be easy to choose the five Service Fellows students.
The freshman and sophomore year of the Service Fellows will revolve around the history of service at Berry College and self-discovery through volunteering. The junior and senior year will be based on understanding the community as well as how to lead and create change within volunteer management.
Service Fellows students will model the basic requirements and expectations of Leadership Fellows students, but they are still different in terms of responsibilities. The recipients of the Service Fellow scholarship will focus on why service is important.
Several Leadership Fellow students and Bonner scholarship students oppose the idea of the Service Fellows Scholarship.
“The creation of a new scholarship caught us by surprise,” Leadership Fellows student Reagan Whisenant said. “We also were not told that spots from our scholarship were going to be used to fund Service Fellows. I just wish we would have been more informed ahead of time, especially before we interviewed upcoming freshmen for the scholarship.”
“We are still working through how they will be overlap and how there will be separation between the two scholarships,” Director of Leadership Fellows Cecily Crow said.
“The Service Fellows Scholarship will be a lot different from the Bonner Scholarship,” Taylor said. “Bonner students get plugged in immediately into the community, while the Service Fellows students will work in the Berry College Volunteer Services office to understand the needs of Berry’s volunteer partners.”
In spring semester of 2019, the Service Fellows Scholarship will have their own application and interview process. The number of students chosen for the Service Fellows Scholarship will increase.
Administration plans to stop distributing the funding from the Leadership Fellows Scholarship and to rename financial aid for additional Service Fellows students in the future.