By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
Ten students in the Diocese of Davenport are recipients of this year’s Marguerite Ritzinger scholarships.
These students will receive $1,000 scholarships for the upcoming fall semester:
Samuel Aitchison, Iowa City, Saint Louis University-St. Louis
Margaret Burchett, Davenport, Iowa State University-Ames
Tyler Carber, Davenport, St. Ambrose University-Davenport
Jorie Ann Hanenburg, Park View, University of Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls
Isabelle Pierce, DeWitt, University of Iowa-Iowa City
Elizabeth Riedesel, Grand Mound, Kirkwood Community College-Cedar Rapids
Landon Schroeder, DeWitt, University of Iowa
Riordan Smith, Iowa City, Augustana College-Rock Island, Illinois
Grace Tallman, Davenport, St. Ambrose University
Joseph Tallman, Davenport, Iowa State University
Twenty-seven students applied for the one-year scholarships. Marianne Agnoli, diocesan marriage and family life coordinator, served on the selection committee. “I was impressed by many of the applicants’ academic and extracurricular accomplishments and inspired commitment to practicing their faith and the desire to integrate this faith and its teaching into their future goals.”
All of the applicants deserved accolades. “Each applicant was so unique, gifted with diverse talents and processing such varied visions for the future,” she said. “We have developed a rubric to assist in the process. But each year it remains a struggle to narrow down the applications to the final number of scholarships available.”
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 began in 2009.
