The first scholarship for undergraduate students with disabilities at MSU will be awarded in January for the spring semester.
The five Samaritan Foundation scholarships, worth $2,500 each, are offered by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. The deadline to submit applications is Oct. 15.
The Samaritan Foundation was founded about 25 years ago by MSU alumni Jim and Judy DeLapa.
Judy DeLapa is the namesake of MSU’s Judith A. DeLapa Perennial Gardens. DeLapa and her husband met at MSU and contribute money to the university regularly.
“My husband and I both attended MSU on scholarship,” she said. “We know how important it can be.”
Though the DeLapa’s have offered many scholarships to students of all ages before, this is their first effort to donate to students with disabilities.
DeLapa said she wanted to give the scholarship because she has watched her friends struggle with the disabilities that accompany age.
“I’m seeing more and more how difficult life with disabilities can be,” she said. “We just think it’s a group of people who could use some extra help.”
DeLapa also added a plane trip with a visually impaired woman opened her eyes to the need for such a scholarship.
The woman had only one hour to use the bathroom, maneuver her way through the airport and allow her assistant dog to go outside, DeLapa said.
“I thought a person who has sight would have difficulty accomplishing all that,” she said.
Recipients of the scholarship will have a chance to meet their benefactors, but the couple will not be involved with the selection process, DeLapa said.
“We’re not really worried about who gets it,” she said. “As long as they’re deserving people.”
Mike Hudson, director of the resource center, said the Samaritan Foundation scholarships are the first ever at MSU for undergraduate students with disabilities.
The Friendship Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a graduate student with a disability every April.
“Now this one makes a nice balance with the graduate scholarship already in place,” Hudson said. “The DeLapa’s identified this as one of their missions, and we’re happy with that.
“The staff of the (resource center) is extremely excited about this opportunity,” he said.
