Eight students in the Diocese of Davenport each were awarded $1,000 scholarships through the Marguerite Ritzinger Scholarship.
Margaret Brueck of Burlington, Kaile Hoffmann of Charlotte, Matthew Moreland of Ottumwa, Adam VanErsvelde of Grinnell, Grace Edwards of Winfield, Nicholas Riedesel of Grand Mound, Anna Rauenbuehler of Muscatine and Lauren Benzing of Solon will receive scholarships for the upcoming fall semester.
The award is named for the late Marguerite Ritzinger, a Sigourney native, who left money to the diocese to help with scholarships for seminarians and students attending colleges or universities. The scholarship program was launched in 2009.
Sixty students applied for this year’s scholarships. A committee reviewed essays, high school or college transcripts and reference letters in addition to the application form, said Lyndsay Maloney, receptionist for the Diocese of Davenport. She has served on the Ritzinger scholarship committee for four years.
“It gets harder to decide every year,” she said. “We always have a diverse group of kids who apply. I feel like all the kids are deserving. It was very rewarding reading these essays, but it’s definitely a tough decision.”
Scholarships are not automatically renewed.