Published: May 14, 2009 11:02 pm      

North student nabs new UCO scholarship

The University of Central Oklahoma recently awarded Matthew Sutter of Edmond the prestigious Emerging Leader scholarship.

Sutter is among 18 incoming freshmen chosen as an emerging leader from the more than 600 high school students who applied and were interviewed by UCO faculty and staff from the university’s leadership scholarship programs.

As an emerging leader, Sutter will receive $1,000 for each of his first two semesters.

Sutter will also receive a tuition waiver for all classes that are included in the scholarship’s required leadership minor.

The Emerging Leader program emphasizes the development of academic leadership, which follows UCO’s mission to encourage students to achieve their highest leadership potential.

“Emerging leaders play a very important role in UCO’s leadership success. Our students become highly developed leaders through participating in civic engagement projects and being an active part of the community. They also learn leadership in the classroom while pursing a minor in leadership,” said Melissa Ingram, coordinator of leadership development at UCO’s Leadership Central office.

Each year, Emerging Leaders participate in a summer common reading program, attend the fall break Civic Engagement Experience and volunteer as a part of the Big Event community service project during their sophomore and junior year.

Students who complete all of the Emerging Leader scholarship requirements and are on track to graduate in four years with an academic leadership minor will be awarded a $500 general scholarship for their final semester.

All new emerging leaders will enroll in UCO’s annual fall leadership class “Lessons in Leadership”, which serves as a transformational journey centered on leadership, and hosts a speaker series from state and national leaders who share their unique experiences and offer insights about leadership.

For more information about UCO, visit www.uco.edu.

For more information about the Emerging Leaders program, call Ingram at 974-5563 or mingram5@uco.edu.