City of Muskogee Foundation directors approved 12 scholarships on Monday, six based on academic merit and six based on a combination of academic merit and need.
The 12 recipients will be selected Sunday from a pool of 21 finalists from Muskogee and Hilldale high schools by a panel of four people from Oklahoma City who have no ties to Muskogee. Recipients have been selected historically before directors approved the scholarships even though only one person knew the students' identities before they were revealed at the schools' awards ceremonies.
Lauren Rennie, scholarship director for Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, said that did not happen this year due to scheduling conflicts.
"This year is a little bit different - we actually haven't met to do our interviews yet - that will be happening next Sunday," Rennie said during the foundation's regular business meeting Monday. "Instead of giving you giving you some basic, vague stats and asking you to approve them, we are going to ask you to approve the students who are going to be selected next weekend."
Foundations Management President Frank Merrick, who serves as the City of Muskogee Foundation's executive director, said information typically provided before foundation directors approve the committee's recommendations will be provided this year by telephone. Those calls, he said, will be made after committee members interview the 21 finalists and their recommendations are recorded.
"I think we will try to call each of you, because if we send an email it becomes public, and we don't want anything public until after the awards ceremony," Merrick said. "So we will call you and let you know which schools and that kind of stuff - sorry we don't have that information for you today."
The foundation offers scholarships to qualifying Muskogee and Hilldale seniors through two programs. The City of Muskogee Foundation Excellence Scholarship, awarded for academic performance, provides recipients with a $24,000 scholarship that is paid during the course of six semesters, beginning with the student's third consecutive semester.
The City of Muskogee Foundation Legacy Scholarship is awarded based on both a student's academic performance and financial need. The scholarship is worth $24,000, an amount that is paid throughout the course of eight semesters, beginning with the student's first semester.
Foundation records show scholarships totaling about $1.82 million will have been offered since the first program was initiated in 2011, including those that will be awarded to graduating seniors this year. The first scholarships awarded through the second program were awarded in 2016.
Rennie said in 2017 that while every effort is made to select top-tier students, there have been instances when foundation scholarship recipients ended their college educations. She said when "life happens," foundation directors write off the unpaid portions of those scholarships, and the funds are restored to asset side of the foundation's ledgers.