Grants and Scholarships
2011-2012 Current Recipients
Pictured left to right: Alison Franklin, Rae Ellen Devier and Grace Hakizimana. Joan Robbins is not pictured..
The Grants and Scholarships Committee is pleased to announce our 2011-2012 scholarship recipients. The recipient of the Evelyn Chostner Marboe Scholarship is Rae Ellen Devier, and the Simmons-Jansma Project Renew Grant was awarded to Grace Hakizimana. Alison Franklin and Joan Ribbons are the AAUW State College Branch Scholarship recipients. Brief biographies of these women follow:
Rae Ellen Devier – Evelyn Chostner Marboe Scholarship
The recipient of the Evelyn Chostner Marboe AAUW Branch Scholarship is Rae Ellen Devier, a psychology major pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree with a neuroscience option. Rae Ellen’s long-range career goals include obtaining a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology and subsequently establishing a program for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system.
Several years prior to turning 18, Rae Ellen lived independently due to difficult family circumstances. She became pregnant during her senior year in high school. Rae Ellen discovered shortly after her son’s third birthday that he has Asperger’s syndrome, and she subsequently became involved with Easter Seals of Central Pennsylvania. After volunteering and fundraising for Easter Seals, Rae Ellen began to question her career decisions noting that “the job that I was performing was not making a positive contribution to someone’s life.”
In their letters of recommendation, Rae Ellen’s Penn State professors speak of her ability to balance her studies as a full-time student with the responsibilities of being a mother to three young children. They write that she brings maturity, critical thinking, diligence and engagement to her studies. This Dean’s List student who is committed to making her immediate world a better place is a worthy recipient of the Marboe Scholarship.
Grace Hakizimana – Simmons-Jansma Project Renew Grant
Grace Hakizimana, the 2011-12 Simmons-Jansma Project Renew recipient, is a survivor from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Following high school graduation in 1998, she abandoned her dreams to attend college because she lacked any family support, financial aid didn’t exist in Rwanda, and she spent years living for brief periods with families of friends or at a youth hostel. In 2003, she came to the U.S., but her dream to pursue higher education was put on hold until she obtained refugee status and learned to speak English. A single mother since 2005, she took minimum wage jobs, learned to speak English, and was admitted to Penn State in fall 2007 in order to make a better future for her son and herself. Her adviser wrote that Grace is on the Dean’s List more often than not and her GPA would be higher were it not for recurring bouts of illness. She is a Human Development and Family Studies major who has volunteered and worked in the Global Connections office. In 2008, Grace received the Women’s Opportunity Award from Soroptimist International of Centre County, which assists single mothers who are students. In 2009, she applied for and was granted permanent entry status in the United States.
Alison Franklin – State College Branch AAUW Scholarship
Described by her academic adviser as one of the most inspiring students he has encountered in seven years of teaching and an excellent role model, Alison Franklin is pursuing a degree in Toxicology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. From the age of 15, she struggled with eating disorders, which sabotaged her first enrollment at Penn State and caused her to withdraw in 2003. She credits her husband whom she met in 2005 with changing her life. They married; Alison received professional help for her disorder and became the mother of two girls now four and three, who also gave her a new perspective on life. She volunteers with the local Freecycle group, PAWS animal shelter, her church, and the Branch’s CSI program among others. In summer 2009, Alison returned to Penn State via academic renewal studying initially as a part-time student. With an AAUW Scholarship she enrolled full time in fall 2010 and maintains a 3.96 GPA while taking some of the most challenging science courses at the University. With degrees in environmental chemistry/toxicology, Alison plans “to work in chemical and environmental evaluation, regulation and control.” She is specifically interested in water quality analysis, an area in which she has conducted research and written reports.
Joan Ribbons – State College Branch AAUW Scholarship
Working hard to complete her bachelor’s degree in nursing, Joan is a second year scholarship recipient. With her four children almost completely independent, Joan wished to resume her career but found her diploma RN education limiting. She currently serves as the president of the Adult Learners at Penn State (ALPS) Club and is working to establish a lounge for ALPS and to
help build a campus community at University Park for students aged 24-60. Through her position as president of ALPS, Joan is part of the Vice President for Student Affairs Student Roundtable.
Planning to work in community health, Joan hopes to teach families and individuals with disabilities to incorporate leisure activities into their lives. Joan plans to use gardening and exercise as tools to give to her patients and has added Kinesiology as a minor this semester. As a volunteer with People Centre’D on Diabetes, Joan has worked on raising diabetes awareness in our community after hearing about the organization in one of her nutrition classes.
Joan’s professors are enthusiastic in recommending her for an AAUW scholarship. She ranked in the top 5% of students in a Biobehavioral Health class and also served as a mentor to other students through her leadership skills.