EUGENE, Ore. -- (June 19, 2012) – Five students at the University of Oregon have been selected as Tillman Military Scholars by the Pat Tillman Foundation. The UO provides support services to military veterans and family members and is one of 14 universities serving as Tillman Military Scholar University Partners for the 2012-2013 academic year.
Four new recipients will join one renewing scholar at the UO for the annual scholarship program. The Military Scholars are: Brian Loftus, law; Byron Etta, biology; Kent Davis, law; Raymond McPadden, community and regional planning; and Jeff Meray (renewing scholar), law.
The five University of Oregon students were awarded a total of $44,000 in Tillman scholarships to assist with costs for tuition, fees, books and additional expenses. Scholarship recipients must maintain academic standards and are expected to contribute hours of service in their local communities.
“Being a part of the Tillman Military Scholars organization allows me to network with other service-minded students and staff in order to find ways to further serve my community,” said Meray, who is from the Eugene/Springfield area and served in the Navy.
Scholarship applicants can request assistance for room and board and other basic needs, including child care, medical expenses or others that may be considered barriers to reaching academic goals set by military veterans and family members.
“Being selected as a Tillman Military Scholar confirms and validates my commitment to public service,” said Davis, an Army veteran from Tucson, Ariz. “The scholarship is allowing me to extern (unpaid) for a Ninth Circuit judge, which is an enormously competitive position, and will hopefully help me secure a clerkship in the future.”
The Pat Tillman Foundation was established in honor of the NFL player who left his athletic career to serve in the U.S. Army and was killed in Afghanistan.Over the past four years, the organizationhas awarded more than $3.2 million in scholarship funds to 230 Tillman Military Scholars pursuing education at every level from freshmen undergraduates to Ph.D. candidates.
“I am honored to be a symbol of Pat Tillman's legacy of selflessness and service to the country,” said McPadden, who served in the Army and is from Corpus Christi, Tex.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACT: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu
###