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U-M Club of Michiana: Scholarship Information

Do you remember what stepping on the “M on the Diag” means?  What makes the lions roar in front of the Museum of Natural History?  Meeting and eating at the Pretzel Bell?  What about hearing the tolling of Burton Bell tower, writing a paper at the Fishbowl or punching computer cards for your program at the North Station Computing Center?  Even if you don’t recall all of these memories, we know you remember singing The Victors, cheering on the “Champions of the West”!

Louis Elbel, composer and writer of that “greatest college fight song” hails from our very own Michiana area!  It is in his honor and name that the University Of Michigan Club Of Michiana annually bestows scholarships upon several outstanding young men and women from Michiana who are entering the University of Michigan.  These young people are already “The Leaders and the Best” in order to be accepted to the University, making the scholarship selections every year extremely difficult.  It would be so much easier to be able to award all of them scholarships, but that is just not possible.

To paraphrase a recent popular credit card commercial: the cost of attending the University is over $22,000 per year for in-state and nearly $50,000 per year for out-of state students, textbooks for a semester can add over $400 to the tab, the price-tag on the essential lap-top computer is about $1000, the cost of a football ticket is over $55″¦the value of a Michigan Education is priceless.  We know that.  We have experienced it.  Despite the current economic climate, however, high school students and their parents recognize the importance of a good education, and we are seeing record numbers of students applying for both the University and our Elbel scholarships.

Our scholarship fund cannot handle the number of requests anymore. That’s where you come in.  The Elbel Scholarship is wholly funded by donations and invested with the University.  We are all called to be “Leaders and the Best”; to set a shining example of what it means to be Michigan Alumni.  Many hands (or donations, in this case) make light work in other words, less strain on everyone involved.  Won’t you please consider a tax deductible contribution to the Louis Elbel Scholarship Fund to help carry on the Michigan Tradition?

Contributions may be made either by check or directly on line.  Please make checks payable to “The University of Michigan” and note “Scholarship #317920 ““ Elbel” on the memo line, and mail to: The University of Michigan Club of Michiana, P.O. Box 33, South Bend, IN 46624-0033 .  For donating on line, please use the University of Michigan’s secure website, scroll down to Indiana and click on Michiana  and follow through the directions.

On behalf of all the future fine “Men and Women of Michigan” we thank you from the very bottoms of our maize-and-blue-blooded hearts!

Eligibility Requirements:
1.  You must be a resident of the Michiana area (defined below).
2.  You must be accepted by the University of Michigan as a first year undergraduate and have matriculated.
3.  You must demonstrate involvement in your school and community.
4.  You must have a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.7
5.  You must have an interview with the Scholarship Committee

Michiana Area
The Michigan area is bordered by Lake Michigan on the West, I-94 on the North, I-69 on the East and the state line on the South.  (Zip codes are 49031 to 49130)
The Indiana area is bordered by the state line on the North, Illinois state line on the West, Shipshewana on the East and Warsaw on the South.  (Zip codes are 46304 to 46699)

Application Process:
There is no application to be considered for this scholarship. The Scholarship Committee chair will contact all eligible students.

Selection Criteria:
Eligible students who respond to the notification of their eligibility, must participate in an interview with the Scholarship Committee and bring a copy of his/her transcript.
Although it is not required, because of the namesake of this scholarship(Louis Elbel, the author of The Victors), extra consideration is given to candidates involved in music.

Eligible students are contacted around the first of June each year. Interviews are held in the middle of June, and notification of the selection results are sent out within three days of the last interview.

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