21 students selected as new Cox Scholars

Fourteen IU students and seven IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis students have the honor of being the second annual Jesse H. and Beulah Chanley Cox Scholarship Fund recipients. On May 3, the IU Foundation publicly announced their decisions for the beneficiaries of the award for the 2006-2007 academic year.\nThe Cox Scholarship is the largest merit-based award for working students who are Indiana residents. They supply chosen students with 75 percent of the estimated cost of attending IUB or IUPUI, according to the IUF Web site.\nAll students must work to contribute 25 percent of their educational costs per year and maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or above. In addition, all students must be pursuing their first undergraduate degree.\nJunior Ty Childers is a first-time winner and hopes this award will allow him to work less and not rely as much on his loans.\n"It will allow me to concentrate on school and extracurricular activities," he said. "It will give me more time to be a college student."\nChilders works at the Student Recreational Sports Center and the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation to help pay for his education.\nThe benefactors of these awards, Beulah and Jesse Cox, understood the need for education as well as the financial burden it places on students, said IUF President Curt Simic, in a press release. They wanted to reward and encourage students who contributed financially to their own education while maintaining good academic standing.\nJunior Sarah Bonifer, who received one of the endowments, helps pay for her tuition and expenses through a research assistant position at a cognitive psychology lab on campus.\n"It has opened up so many opportunities to me that weren't even imaginable before," she said. "I jumped up and down and screamed. I called my mom right away."\nApplicants filled out a written application with two essays, two letters of recommendation, a resume and a transcript. Students also had to prove their financial need and that they make a 25 percent contribution to their educational expenses through a job. The second and final round included an interview screening.\n"The application process was lengthy, but worth it," Bonifer said.\nBoth Bonifer and Childers had received small scholarships in the past -- yet none of them compared to the Cox \nScholarship.\n"This is by far the largest," Bonifer said. "The others helped, but just $1,000 or $500."\nBonifer's freshman-year roommate was a previous recipient and told her about the opportunity.\n"I knew not to get my hopes up, but I kind of knew where I stood. I got nervous," Bonifer said. "But the interview was really comfortable."\nThis year, the IUF awarded 21 students with a Cox scholarship. Beginning in the 2007--2008 academic year, over 60 students will receive awards. It is renewable depending on the students' continued qualification as a working student with an appropriate grade point average.\nThis year's Cox scholarship winners average a $6,000 annual personal contribution to their educational costs and a 3.64 grade point average, according to the press release. Eight are first-generation college students. The scholarship program stipulates that two-thirds of the recipients must be IU students and the remaining one-third must be from IUPUI. \n"It was a blessing from God that I was able to receive this scholarship," Childers said. "I would say to anyone: never be afraid to apply. You just never know if it's meant to be for you to get it"