Contact:  Melissa Potter
June 15, 2006

Sturgill Chosen as First Recipient of Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship

Brad Sturgill of Big Stone Gap is the first-ever recipient of the Robert E. Isaac, Sr. Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship, and will begin classes at Mountain Empire Community College this fall. Sturgill is among 40 first-time college students selected for the inaugural year of the Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship Program.  Students selected for these scholarships have demonstrated academic excellence during high school, as well as a commitment to developing their leadership skills. They will become mentors to future Legacy scholars as they move through their academic programs and graduate from a Virginia community college.   

The Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship provides up to $3,000 for a full year of tuition, books, and fees at any of the 40 campuses of the 23 colleges in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).  Each one is named in honor of a philanthropy leader who has been a benefactor for that particular college.  The scholarship at MECC is named for Robert E. Isaac, Sr., former Chair of the college's Foundation Board of Directors and longtime MECC supporter.

Sturgill is a 2006 graduate of Powell Valley High School, where he was Student Government Association (SGA) president during his senior year and vice-president during his junior year.  He developed the ability to lead others through his involvement with the SGA, including helping to organize events such as homecoming and spirit week for his school. 

"Our SGA was very strong," he states.  "I really got into it and stuck with it throughout high school."

Sturgill found out that he had been chosen as the 2006 recipient of the Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship at a student awards ceremony held near the end of the school year.  "I was very shocked and really excited when they announced my name," he says.  "It was the fourth and final scholarship I had received that day, and it really meant the most."

He credits Powell Valley teacher and SGA sponsor Kim Blanken in helping him obtain the scholarship at MECC.  It was Blanken who submitted his name and information for the scholarship, without letting Sturgill know she had done so. 

"Ms. Blanken kept it a secret," he says.  "It is nice to know that somebody cares enough about you that they would want to help you out in the way that she did.  She is a great teacher and has really been a big help to me."

After graduating from MECC, Sturgill plans to transfer to Virginia Tech, and work towards becoming an electrical engineer.  His ultimate goal is to work as a Federal Mine Inspector for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).  Sturgill, along with the other newly named Commonwealth Legacy Scholars, will be honored on September 20 in Richmond at the Jefferson Hotel as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for the VCCS, which was created in 1966.

Dr. Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the VCCS, in commending the 40 scholars, says "I believe that all young people should be encouraged to go to college. The long term goal is to expand the intellectual highways of Virginia. Our workforce, our economy, and our quality of life depend on it."

"The Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship Program has been established through the generosity of a number of private donors to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE)," says Dr. Jennifer L. Sager, vice chancellor for institutional advancement for the VCCS. "This program will designate scholarship recipients who in each successive year will become mentors to a new class of Scholars – providing a legacy for years to come of community college graduates extending opportunity to future students. What better way to honor the history – and the future – of Virginia's community colleges and the students and families they serve."

Big Stone Gap's Brad Sturgill is the first-ever recipient of the Robert E. Isaac, Sr. Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship. 

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