Legacy Scholarship assists four Bobcats continuing family tradition
For many students at Ohio University, being a Bobcat is part of a family history that spans generations. Countless parents and grandparents have met on OHIO’s campuses, siblings have walked the bricks together and families have celebrated a shared passion for the University.
The Ohio University Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship honors these Bobcat connections and invests in outstanding undergraduate students who are continuing their families’ OHIO tradition and writing the next chapter in their families’ OHIO story.
This year’s Legacy Scholarship awardees are:
Jaden Kenner
At age 2, Jaden Kenner had her first Burrito Buggy experience and has called Ohio University home ever since. By the time she was 8 years old, she knew the brick streets of Athens as if they were her hometown.
Jaden Kenner is a first-year student who is following in both of her parents’ footsteps in her journey as a Bobcat.
Kenner, a first-year student from Brecksville, Ohio, majoring in pre-early childhood education, follows in the footsteps of her parents, both proud alumni, who shared with her their formative and cherished OHIO experiences.
“Every visit, when we pulled in by Peden Stadium, my parents said, ‘Coming back to OU always feels like coming home,’” Kenner said. “Over the years I grew to feel the same way, too.”
Before becoming a Bobcat, Kenner seized numerous opportunities to grow as an academic and a leader. From serving as class secretary on her high school’s Student Council to earning membership in the National Honor Society, she has strived to succeed. Outside of the classroom, Kenner achieved varsity letters in both flagline and cross country and was also active in Key Club and the St. Basil Life Teen, a Catholic youth ministry organization.
“Being an OU Legacy means coming home for my college experience and carrying on the traditions of this University as my parents did and still do today,” said Kenner.
Kelsey Rader
Sophomore Kelsey Rader is literally walking in the footsteps of her Bobcat parents.
Kelsey Rader, one of this year’s Legacy Scholarship recipients, walks the halls of Stocker Center as an engineering student, just as her father did years ago. The sophomore’s mother is also an OHIO graduate.
“Walking the halls of Stocker Center, I can imagine my father walking the halls with me,” said Rader. “My mom has introduced me to a diverse network of people that are dedicated to making my stay at Ohio University nothing but inviting.”
Rader is a student in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology – the same college her father graduated from – and is majoring in chemical engineering. Her mother is a graduate of OHIO’s Patton College of Education.
“When it was my decision to choose where I wanted to go to college, it was obvious Ohio University was the perfect fit for me,” Rader said. “Ohio University felt like home; the beauty within the boundaries of this campus intrigued me to start a new chapter in my life.”
On campus, Rader is involved in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a globally recognized organization that connects students and professional chemical engineers and that, she said, provides her an avenue to more deeply pursue her studies while forming connections with her fellow Bobcats. She is also a CPR-certified lifeguard and was captain of both her golf and lacrosse teams in high school.
After spending a year on OHIO’s Athens Campus, Rader said she more fully understands her parents’ Bobcat pride, noting that Ohio University football games and tailgates are the foundation of their family.
“I feel like I belong here,” she said. “Living through (my parents’) legacy, I am still creating my own as well.”
Sean Hollowell
Sean Hollowell’s parents met as students at Ohio University, and in spring 2018, he sat in the Convocation Center, watching as his sister became an OHIO alumna.
Legacy Scholarship recipient Sean Hollowell carries on the legacy of his parents and sister as a proud Bobcat in the Honors Tutorial College.
“I always thought of Ohio University as their school,” he said.
With a little convincing from his parents, Hollowell applied to OHIO and today says, “Here in Athens I have found my own place, and it has been amazing.”
Hollowell, a native of Hilliard, Ohio, is a junior, double majoring in environmental studies and geography in OHIO’s nationally recognized Honors Tutorial College.
“The fantastic part about HTC is that it gives me the academic freedom to pursue my interests and tailor my own education,” he said. “I’ve been a curious guy since I was a little kid, and since coming to OU, my passion and hunger for learning has only grown.”
At OHIO, Hollowell served as president of the Read-Johnson Hall Council during his first year on campus. His sophomore year, he was selected as an undergraduate research scholar for the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs’ GIS Team. Hollowell is in his third year as a member of the Singing Men of Ohio, a student organization that has given him a sense of belonging since his first year on campus.
“Being a college freshman and having over 60 guys who support you on campus really made me feel welcome,” Hollowell said. “Now I get to foster that sense of brotherhood in the new freshmen who have joined the group.”
As a Bobcat, he relishes in the Hollowell family history he sees throughout campus – from Galbreath Chapel where his parents married to Bagel Street Deli where he and his sister enjoyed many a Saturday breakfast.
Hannah Graber
Everyone in Hannah Graber’s family who ever attended college has done so at Ohio University.
In her final year at OHIO, Hannah Graber will add another chapter to the legacy of her parents and aunt, all proud alumni.
Graber grew up hearing stories about her father’s and aunt’s adventures at Strouds Run State Park and the opportunities her mother had working in the admissions office in Chubb Hall.
“When I was little, we would take family visits to their old stomping grounds – our Honda bouncing around on the brick roads,” Graber, a senior from Galloway, Ohio, majoring in communication studies in OHIO’s Honors Tutorial College, recalled.
But it was the passion and zest with which an OHIO tour guide spoke of Ohio University and the Athens community that resulted in Graber following in her family’s Bobcat footsteps.
“Aside from my family,” she said, “I never heard someone convey so much pride for a place.”
In her three-plus years at OHIO, Graber has immersed herself in the campus and the greater community, seeking opportunities to apply the skills she’s learning in the classroom while establishing a Bobcat legacy of her own.
Graber is a member of the Student Alumni Board, dedicated to increasing student engagement with the University, OHIO alumni, and programming and other opportunities offered through the Ohio University Alumni Association. She has helped to plan some of the organization’s large-scale events, including Homecoming Week’s Yell Like Hell Pep Rally, Senior Week, and OHIO’s Birthday Bash, which last year earned her the title of Bobcat of the Week.
For the past three years, she’s volunteered for the University’s move-in efforts, helping to welcome new and returning Bobcats to campus, and has been a member of Student Senate, serving on the Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, as the Honors Tutorial College’s senator, and, most recently, as a commissioner for the Women’s Affairs Commission.
Embracing opportunities to give back to her home away from home, Graber has been a reliable participant in the annual Athens Beautification Day, the city’s largest community service event. This past year, she was a mentor in the Women’s Mentorship Program through which she was paired with a student at Athens Middle School.
As she enters her senior year at OHIO, she’s still bouncing around on Athens’ brick roads – now, she says, with a different outlook.
“To me, being a legacy means a lifelong tie to Ohio University, carrying on our traditions in a family of my own – one day,” she said.
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The Ohio University Alumni Association is accepting applications for the Legacy Scholarship for the 2020-21 academic year. The deadline to submit all application materials is 5 p.m. Nov. 15, 2019. For more information on the Legacy Scholarship, click here.