John Lewis Keller Scholarship Fund
for Rising Oxford College Sophomores
Nature of the Scholarship
The JOHN LEWIS KELLER SCHOLARSHIP FUND is established in perpetuity to recognize very special students. These students will have been challenged by major life altering events before they arrived at Oxford College. They might have dealt with severe health issues or learning disabilities; living a life of tests, medications, and hospital stays. They learned early that they can not afford to look at the world through rose colored glasses and yet chose to always see the glass as half full and not half empty. These students know the meaning of true friends, the value of kind words, giving and getting big hugs, and the importance of determination and “staying the course” no matter what.
These students will have already learned many of life’s hard lessons before walking the great halls of Oxford College. When they applied and were accepted to Oxford College they came as equals. The school had no knowledge of their life challenges and gave no exceptions to their admissions.
John was known for his extreme determination to achieve his goals. He took the S.A.T. three times (John was severely dyslexic) to achieve his desired score; the first time wearing a special backpack containing his nutrients and medications administered through a permanent I.V. in his arm (John had severe Cohn’s Disease). Being accepted at Oxford College was John’s goal and he was determined that his medical condition would not stop him. John was always smiling, inspiring all around him to be happy and positive. He loved Oxford, his professors, his classmates, being a member of the Dooley’s Dolls and the Leadership Team. He said, “Going to Oxford is the best decision I ever made, next to falling in love with Clelia Pezzi”, a fellow classmate.
This scholarship is established to honor the memory of JOHN LEWIS KELLER and provides $2,500 each spring to an Oxford College rising sophomore. Applicants must be enrolled at Oxford both fall and spring semesters of their sophomore year and have maintained a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA. John’s family and friends desire that other students like John, those who meet life head-on with perceptiveness, determination, and compassion, have an opportunity to be recognized and say Oxford College was the best decision they ever made.
Requirement from Oxford College faculty and/or staff members:
The recipient will be chosen by a combination of faculty and the Office of Disability Service at Oxford.
What we do for ourselves dies with us.
What we do for others remains and is immortal…
July 19, 2008 is John and Clelia’s wedding date.
August 22, 2008 is the date John gave up his fight with cancer.
Please help us complete his desire to give recognition to the students that will follow him up that tremendous mountain to graduation. We need fifty thousand dollars before we can start dispersing funds. We are currently barely half way.
UPDATE: We reached our initial goal of fifty thousand and the first scholarship wil be awarded in Fall of 2011 in a ceremonial kickoff! Students have been notified of the scholarship’s availability. Our new goal is to reach one hundred thousand which will make this scholarship permanent, allowing us to award $2500 a year to deserving students.
We are aware of the sacrifice it takes to donate to charities during such unstable times, but the world is even bleaker for our children with severe disabilities.
Making a contribution is simple…
Simply visit the Giving to Emory secure online donation page by clicking on this link and following the onscreen instructions:
