An exclusive scholarship program named for the man who broke the sound barrier celebrates 30 years of excellence.
An exclusive scholarship program named for the man who broke the sound barrier celebrates 30 years of excellence.Not much has changed for the Society of Yeager Scholars in the past 30 years, and that’s a good thing. Students still study abroad at Oxford University the summer after their sophomore year. They are still provided full tuition, room and board, along with a stipend for textbooks and other supplies. They still become proficient in a foreign language and go through four interdisciplinary seminars in subjects some would argue are foreign languages themselves. They still get to meet Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, who turns 94 in February.
Class sizes remain small, with six to 12 scholars chosen each year through a rigorous application and interview process. This year, the Joseph and Pamela Gillette Class of 2020 includes eight students from West Virginia, Ohio, Italy and Japan. As for the students themselves, it’s their differences that remain the same year after year.
“Despite the fact that scholars will never take a class other than seminar with many of their classmates, the groups still develop incredibly close bonds,” said Laura Greer, graduate of the Frederick J. Gumm Class of 1999 and member of the Society of Yeager Scholars Board of Directors. “Science majors attend their classmates’ music and dance recitals. Psychology majors come to their biology classmate’s senior project presentation on wetlands. They become a family over the course of their four years together.”
Since welcoming its first class in 1986, the Yeager program has graduated hundreds of leading professionals in fields too many to name. Katie Kramer, a member of the Ashland Inc. 25th Anniversary Class of 2015, became the youngest American female to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar. Josh Carpenter, a member of the Ashland Inc. Class of 2003, argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hunter Barclay, a member of the Dr. Daniel P. Babb Class of 2019, spent the summer studying in Wales as a recipient of the Fulbright Summer Institute Award. Sarah Nix, a member of the James and Verna Gibson Class of 2018, will spend her junior year studying in Japan as a recipient of the Boren Award.
“There’s no formula for what makes a great Yeager Scholar,” said Dr. Nicki LoCascio, dean of the Honors College. “There’s no ‘typical Yeager.’ They are all very, very unique.”
In addition to their diverse academic interests and achievements, the “Yeagers” are known for taking on a number of community service projects, from river cleanups to donation drives to Habitat for Humanity builds. Two members of the Wolfe Family Class of 2017, Sara Brumbaugh and Ben Jones, were among a team of students who worked with the Huntington Police Department to determine more effective patrol zones.
“It’s hard for people to pinpoint what a math major is able to do,” said Brumbaugh, a double major in applied mathematics and secondary education. “For me, this was a great opportunity to show how you can use math to help people.”
This fall, the scholars will have another great opportunity: an informal book club led by Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert. Cara Bailey, Yeager outreach coordinator, said President Gilbert’s involvement and support have been invaluable, especially when it comes to his frank discussions with the scholars about what’s expected of them.
“These students have received support that other students haven’t, and there’s a responsibility that goes along with that,” said Gilbert, who has also prompted the scholars to develop an “embedded tutoring” program to assist their classmates. “I believe they’ll feel a very strong connection to Marshall because of the opportunities they’ve been given, and I’m excited to see the ways they give back to their fellow students and their university.”
For Huntington native Will Sheils, member of the Class of 2020, that connection to Marshall comes easy.
“I’ve known my whole life that you can get a great-quality education at Marshall,” said Sheils, an accounting major. “But with the Yeager Scholarship, it’s more than a great education. You get to go through these incredible experiences with similarly minded people, who all want to better themselves and their communities. The people are what make the program special.”
The scholarship is contained within the university’s Honors College, created in 2010 to raise the profile of honors students at Marshall. While LoCascio and Bailey guide the Yeager program’s curriculum and other aspects, the Board of Directors oversees fundraising and recruiting. The scholarship is funded by private donations, including an endowment administered through the Marshall University Foundation.
“Folks who were on the ‘ground crew,’ who got together and came up with this brainchild, still support the Yeager program today,” said R. Scott Anderson, CFO of the Marshall University Foundation and member of the Francis Class of 1992. “And the main reason supporters keep coming back is the opportunity to get to know the students. It’s energizing and engaging to see what they’re doing and what they’re capable of.”
When the Yeager program welcomed Cara Bailey as outreach coordinator in 2014, the program gained not only an advocate and mentor for the students, guiding them through the university’s most demanding academic program, but also a devoted member of the Marshall family.
“The Yeager program has been through 30 years of university presidents, 30 years of infrastructure changes, 30 years of financial ups and downs and governmental bureaucracy — and it’s survived,” Bailey said. “There’s a reason for that. It is important for our university, our community and our state to have this scholarship.”
According to board president Rex Johnson, the best is yet to come.
“Last year we had 28 scholars, and this year we’ll have 30,” Johnson said. “Soon we’ll have 32, and ultimately we’d like to go even higher than that. And these are top-notch students who could be going to any university in the nation, but they’ve chosen Marshall because of this opportunity. For 30 years, we have attracted the best and brightest from all over, but especially from West Virginia, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next 30 years will hold.”
Katherine Pyles is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Huntington.
Photos: (From top) One of Marshall’s most prestigious scholarship programs bears the name of West Virginia native Gen. Chuck Yeager. Cara Bailey (left), Yeager outreach coordinator, and Dr. Nicki LoCascio, dean of the Honors College, serve at the forefront of the Yeager Scholarship program and ensure its continued success. Seen here in 1997, Marshall’s Yeager Scholars get to meet Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager and hear stories about his life and his work. Yeager Scholars receive a unique opportunity to study abroad at Oxford University the summer after their sophomore year.