Fifty-one students received scholarships in 2021 through the Lisa Higgins Hussman Scholarship and Schwallie Family Scholarship. The two scholarships attracted nearly 600 applicants and the 51 awards total $161,000. With these additional scholarships, OAR has awarded more than $1,331,000 to 440 autistic students since the program started in 2007.
Both the Schwallie and Hussman scholarships provide one-time $3,000 awards to autistic students pursuing post-secondary education at a variety of different institutions. The Schwallie Family Scholarships are awarded to students attending four-year and two-year colleges. The Hussman Scholarships are awarded to students attending two-year colleges, vocational/technical schools, job readiness programs, life skills programs, and other transition-related programs.
Thanks to the generosity and partnership of ONEHOPE Wine, OAR awarded four ONEHOPE Awards of $5,000 each to two applicants in each scholarship program whose personal stories most inspired the respective scholarship committee. Those recipients are noted in the list below.
To be eligible for a scholarship, an applicant must have a confirmed autism diagnosis, be accepted for enrollment in the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters, and submit three short personal essays along with an application form and recommendation letter. Members of OAR’s board of directors, representatives of the Schwallie and Hussman families, and selected parent volunteers make up the selection committees. Applications for the 2022 scholarship competitions will open in December.
2021 Scholarship Recipients
Lisa Higgins Hussman Scholarship
- Braeden Allen, Columbus State Community College – Columbus, Ohio
- Abigail R. Bailey, Bryant and Stratton College – Albany, N.Y.
- Bridget Blackwell, CarolinaLIFE at University of South Carolina – Columbia, S.C.
- Dominic Fisher, College Internship Program-Bloomington – Bloomington, Ind.
- Robert Fredericksen, Gateway Community College – New Haven, Conn.
- Christian Gade, Coastal Carolina University – Conway, S.C.
- Nathan Gallenbach, College of DuPage – Glen Ellyn, Ill.
- Liam Horner, Indiana University of Pennsylvania – Punxsutawney, Pa.
- Christian Hull, College Living Experience at Columbia State Community College – Franklin, Tenn.
- Landon Jones, South Plains College – Leveland, Texas
- Cain Kaiser, Bismarck State College – Bismarck, N.D.
- Payton Kraft, University of North Florida – Jacksonville, Fla.
- Kyra Lund, The College of Southern Idaho – Twin Falls, Idaho
- Alpha Ma, University of Cincinnati – Cincinnati, Ohio
- Adam McChesney, Slippery Rock University – Slippery Rock, Pa. (ONEHOPE Winner)
- Nia McFadden, University of Missouri-St. Louis Succeed Program – St. Louis, Mo.
- Tevin Mershon, State Fair Community College – Sedalia, Mo.
- Nathalia Navarro, Fashion Institute of Technology – New York, N.Y.
- Sophia Pearce, College of the Florida Keys – Key West, Fla. (ONEHOPE Winner)
- Connor Petrillo, Butler County Community College – Brockway, Pa.
- Damien Pitt, Bellevue College – Bellevue, Wash.
- Rebecca Preneta, Slippery Rock University – Slippery Rock, Pa.
- Ezra Rifkin, Mansfield Hall – Burlington, Vt.
- Colin Shaffer, University of South Carolina – Columbia, S.C.
- Noah Veasman, Union EDGE at Union University – Jackson, Tenn.
- Craig Warren, University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, Ark.
- Keith Winters, University of Arkansas Pulaski Tech – North Little Rock, Ark.
Schwallie Family Scholarship
- Fenya Bartram, Cornell University – Ithaca, N.Y.
- Giovanni S. Bortone, Palm Beach State College – Lake Worth, Fla.
- Marissa Branch, Beacon College – Leesburg, Fla.
- Alexandra Chand, Lawrence University – Appleton, Wis.
- Mason Chandler, College of William & Mary – Williamsburg, Va.
- Andrew Danda, Illinois Institute of Technology – Chicago, Ill.
- Gavin Duhe, Northern Virginia Community College – Alexandria, Va.
- Korey Deans, Michigan State University – East Lansing, Mich.
- Elle C. Fishburn, William Jewell College – Liberty, Mo.
- Ethan Franklin, Berklee School of Music – Boston, Mass.
- Ian N. McKenna Goncalo, The University of Texas at Austin – Austin, Texas
- Michael Haldeman, Yakima Valley College – Yakima, Wash.
- Justin Anthony Hall, Stanford University – Stanford, Calif.
- Madison Jakub, California State University, Northridge – Northridge, Calif.
- Zachary Malkowski, Northern Illinois University – DeKalb, Ill.
- Halley McNair, Wittenberg University – Springfield, Ohio
- Zachary Medeiros, Kean University – Union, N.J.
- Griffin Mims, Aurora University – Aurora, Ill. (ONEHOPE Winner)
- Miranda Noren, Trinity University – San Antonio, Texas
- Erin Pyper, Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fla. (ONEHOPE Winner)
- Mikala (Kai) Shirey, Ball State University – Muncie, Ind.
- Joshua Shoemaker, Columbus State Community College – Columbus, Ohio
- Matthew Spong, Milligan University – Milligan, Tenn.
- Lauren Elizabeth Swain, Sonoma State University – Rohnert Park, Calif.
