The seventh batch of Rudd Scholars comprises 15 Kansas high school students who have opted to attend Wichita State University.
Rudd Scholars will receive a full-ride scholarship that covers tuition, fees, on-campus accommodation, and extensive networking and coaching opportunities. All Rudd Scholars come from Kansas and will attend Wichita State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, or Kansas State.
“We’re excited to welcome our seventh class of Shocker Rudd Scholars to Wichita State in the fall,” said Bobby Gandu, assistant vice president for strategic enrollment management and undergraduate admissions. “The Rudd Foundation has given these students and their families the opportunity to achieve all of their collegiate ambitions and dreams in a debt-free, dynamic mentorship and coaching environment. Being associated with their classmates and former scholars provides them with a great network of friends and business people, giving them a distinct advantage when pursuing post-college employment and graduate school options.”
In addition to living on campus and taking full-time studies toward a college degree, scholars will receive mentoring and success coaching to help them graduate in four years. They will also engage in a variety of developmental activities outside of the classroom, network with leaders in their prospective professions, form strong bonds among themselves, and help the next generation of scholars through an active and connected alumni organization beyond graduation.
“We have no doubt these students will be extraordinarily successful, just as their Shocker Rudd Scholars predecessors have been at Wichita State,” Gandu went on to say. “Those alumni have used their Rudd Scholarship and Wichita State’s educational and practical learning experiences to become engineers, accountants, professionals working in charity organizations, and students pursuing dentistry and medical degrees. Shocker Rudd Scholars are compete not only for practically every significant opportunity and award offered by Wichita State, but also for all of the professional opportunities available in Kansas and outside.”
This raises the total number of Rudd Scholars studying at WSU in the fall of 2024 to 63, the highest among any Kansas Board of Regents university. Since its start, the Rudd Foundation’s scholarship program has provided over 200 scholarships, totaling a $10 million investment in Kansas students.
The Rudd Scholarship, sponsored by the Rudd Foundation, seeks to eliminate financial barriers to a college education. Chosen scholars are expected to excel on university while preparing to be leaders in their professions and communities after graduation.
According to Corri Roberts, vice president of the Rudd Foundation, the initiative focuses on more than just supporting students’ financial needs.
“The Rudd Scholarship is more than financial assistance, focusing on programming that extends Beyond the Dollar, Beyond the Classroom, and Beyond the Degree,” Roberts said in a statement. “With 125 active scholars and 74 alumni, our community supports each other in reaching their full potential and chasing ambitious goals, reflecting Mr. (Leslie) Rudd’s vision of a lifelong network for learning and growth.”
- Annaliese Jorgenson – Hillsboro High School
- Jose Urbina-Renteria – Wichita North High School
- Alexander Baird – Campus High School
- Faith Ekart – Sterling High School
- Kylee Mohr – Great Bend High School
- Richard Gwyn Jr. – Wichita Southeast High School
- Vatedis Coleman – Wichita Southeast High School
- Isabelle Christensen – Southeast of Saline High School
- Kane Huston – Paola High School
- Maimoona Mohammad – Wichita Heights High School
- Mya Scott – Conway Springs High School
- Vivian Chau – Wichita East High School
- Israel Torres Ayala – Wichita Northeast Magnet High School
- Adam Bosworth – Wichita North High School
- Shiloh Goetzinger – Hugoton High School