Endowment reached for memorial scholarship
Kirby Kaufman
Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: News
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The scholarship's purpose is to commemorate young women looking to reach their goals, whether academically or in the community, said UNO Chancellor John Christensen in a statement. The scholarship will be awarded to a student this fall.
NU President James B. Milliken established the scholarship fund with $5,000 from the University of Nebraska Foundation. The university required $10,000 to endow the fund, asking students to raise the remaining $5,000.
A year later, almost $20,000 has been donated to the fund. Fundraisers like the 5K Violence Awareness Run, sponsored during Greek Week last April, helped to raise additional money. The run alone raised nearly $3,000 for the fund.
Williams was killed by a sniper while going through a Kentucky Fried Chicken/Long John Silvers drive-through Jan. 20. Kyle Bormann was recently convicted of second-degree murder.
Williams was the first to attend college in her family and was highly involved at UNO. She was a Goodrich scholar and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
In honor of the two groups Williams was involved in, the scholarship will be given to a junior in either organization maintaining a 3.0 or higher GPA.
Members of AKA sorority had established a scholarship in Williams' memory at Wells Fargo bank. The money from the NU Foundation was combined with that fund to create the Brittany Williams Memorial Scholarship.
Anyone interested in donating to the scholarship should send funds to the University of Nebraska Foundation, 2285 S. 67th St., Suite 200, Omaha, Neb., 68106. Checks should be made payable to the NU Foundation. Donators can also call the foundation at (402) 502-0300 or visit the Web site at www.nufoundation.org.
Mike Carroll, a professor in the Goodrich program, told The Gateway last March he thought Williams would have appreciated the scholarship.
"I think Brittany would be thrilled with the idea that even though she is unable to pursue her dreams, someone else will be able to benefit from those who remember her and hoped that she'd been able to follow through on her nursing career," Carroll said. "It's another promising life and career cut short."
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