English Scholarships & Financial Aid

The English Department advises the Ohio University Office of Financial Aid office concerning the recipients of several scholarships, the amounts of which vary according to endowment proceeds.

Scholarships Available to Incoming Students

Maria Grover Cherrington Scholarship

The Maria Grover Cherrington Scholarship is for English majors of any rank who are residents of Ohio. An applicant should submit the following: a cover letter of application, including a campus address and telephone number; a current DARS report; a one-page statement explaining how the applicant's circumstances fit the specifications of this particular scholarship; a writing sample (of no more than five pages) representing his or her strongest work in an English class. Selection is based on academic merit.

Bernice G. Essig Scholarship in English

The Bernice G. Essig Scholarship is for English majors of any rank on the Athens campus, with preference given to female students who are residents of Ohio. An applicant should submit the following: a cover letter of application, including a campus address and telephone number; a current DARS report; a one-page statement explaining how her or his circumstances fit the specifications of this particular scholarship; a writing sample (of no more than five pages) representing his or her strongest work in an English class. An applicant must file a FAFSA in the Student Financial Aid Office to determine financial need. Selection is based on academic merit and financial need.

Virginia Knecht Memorial Scholarship

The Virginia Knecht Memorial Scholarship is for English majors of any rank, with preference given to residents of Athens County. An applicant should submit the following: a cover letter of application, including a campus address and telephone number; a current DARS report; a one-page statement explaining how the applicant's circumstances fit the specifications of this particular scholarship; a writing sample (of no more than five pages) representing his or her strongest work in an English class. Selection is based on academic merit.

Kelly Marie Tombow Memorial Scholarship

The Kelly Marie Tombow Memorial Scholarship is for English majors of any rank from the state of Ohio, with a priority given to those concentrating in Creative Writing. An applicant should submit the following: a cover letter of application, including a campus address and telephone number; a current DARS report; a one-page statement explaining how the applicant's circumstances fit the specifications of this particular scholarship; a creative writing sample (of no more than five pages) representing his or her strongest work in an English class.

Scholarships Normally Awarded to Continuing Students

Joyce Durham Scholarship in English

The Joyce Durham Scholarship in English is for English majors entering their final year of college, with a minimum overall 3.5 GPA. First preference is given to students from Dayton, then Montgomery County, and then residents of Ohio. Strong preference is given to students who 1) plan to pursue a career in education or 2) demonstrate a strong interest in women's or African American literature. An applicant should submit the following: a cover letter of application, including a campus address and telephone number; a current DARS report; a one-page statement explaining how the applicant?s circumstances fit the specifications of this particular scholarship; and a writing sample (of no more than five pages) representing his or her strongest work in an English class. Selection is based on academic merit.

Applicants must be undergraduate English majors on the Athens Campus entering their final year of study;
Applicants must have a GPA of at least 3.5;
Preference given to applicants with demonstrated interests in Women’s Literature or African American Literature or who plan to pursue a career in education.
Applicants must complete an essay.

Essay prompt: Dr. Joyce Durham taught English for 25 years at the University of Dayton, including summers in Paris and London, and constantly perfected her classroom practices. In a brief essay of about 200 words, discuss your interests in Women’s literature or African American literature or your plans for a career in education.

Your application (name, year of study, GPA) should be sent via email with the essay on a Word attachment to Professor Linda Zionkowski no later than Monday, March 2, 2026.

Hollis Summers Scholarship in English

The Hollis Summers Scholarship is for English majors of any rank. An applicant should submit the following: a cover letter of application, including a campus address and telephone number; a current DARS report; a one-page statement explaining how the applicant's circumstances fit the specifications of this particular scholarship; a writing sample (of no more than five pages) representing his or her strongest work in an English class. Selection is based on academic merit.

Applicants must be full-time undergraduate English majors on the Athens Campus;
Applicants must have a GPA of at least 3.5;
Applicants must complete an essay

Essay prompt: Hollis Summers was a distinguished poet, novelist, short story writer, and editor who taught for many years in our English Department. Born in Kentucky, a poet of place, Dr. Summers cared about voice, originality, and language, and how humans come to understand that there are many ways of being authentic and ethical.

“Adoption,” is a poem which he wrote and distributed to his colleagues in the English department during the 1980s. How would you interpret it? Write a one-page double-spaced essay explaining why, as the winner of the Hollis Summers Memorial Scholarship, you might like to have your name associated with his.

Adoption

A duck with first sight says Mother
to the first moving object he beholds
generally, in fact, his natural mother;
and we compliment the brood,
admiring the nature of nature.

But, on occasion, a duck at first sights
a moving bear, and the bear,
unnoted for his courtesy
accepts the accepting duck
allowing the bird to accompany him anywhere.
Neither considers the nature of nature.

I am careful now. I will make no jokes
about duckling, about bearing
up or down,
having made unlikely choices of my own.

Your application (name, year of study, GPA) should be sent via email with the essay on a Word attachment to Professor Linda Zionkowski no later than Monday March 2, 2026.

The Dean McWilliams Memorial Scholarship

Applicants must be undergraduate English majors on the Athens Campus currently in their first, second, or third year of study;
Applicants must have a GPA of at least 3.0;
Applicants should not be on an athletic scholarship;
Applicants must complete an essay

The Dean McWilliams Scholarship is renewable if the student continues to make progress toward their degree and meets or exceeds the criteria outlined in these guidelines. A travel scholarship will accompany this award if the student decides to study abroad.

Essay prompt: A widely-published scholar with broad interests in the fields of English and Comparative Literature, Professor Dean McWilliams believed in literature’s crucial importance to higher education and to the society at large. In a brief essay of about 200 words, discuss your ideas about the value of studying literature today.