2021-2022 Lilly Scholar

The Cass County Community Foundation is pleased to announce that Rachel Ann Rogers, a senior at Logansport High School as their 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.   Rachel is the daughter of Kyle and Mary Jo Rogers and embodies all those characteristics. She plans to attend Purdue University and study aerospace engineering with a minor in business or architecture. Her long-term plans include a career in the aerospace industry with NASA or SpaceX. She currently has a 4.0 GPA on an unweighted 4.0 scale all while working a part-time job, volunteering in the community and numerous extracurricular activities and leadership positions. .   Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects scholars with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. Both the scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI).     Rachel is a member of many school organizations and active in 4H, vocal performance, instrumental performance, theater, and class government. She has served as Class Secretary and Class President. She has been elected to Student Council all four years, is a member of National Honor Society, Music Honor Society, Academic Science and Spell Bowl Teams and the Mayor’s Youth Council.   Rachel is the 21st recipient from Logansport High School and the 41st  Lilly Scholarship Recipient for Cass County since the program began in 1998.   Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1998-1999 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling in excess of $439 million. More than 5,000 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since the program’s inception.   The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.   Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds significant programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. However, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.   Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates.    For more information on this award or the Cass County Community Foundation, please call 574-722-2200.