Area residents receive Class of 1997 scholarships

Laura Deschaines of Auburn and Lynn Houston of Poland have been named recipients of a Bates College scholarship fund awarded annually to children of Bates employees.

The endowed Bates College Class of 1997 Scholarship Fund, established by the 1997 graduating class, gives preference to children of hourly employees in secretarial services, Facility Services, custodial services, security and dining services.

Deschaines, a junior at Syracuse University in the College of Arts and Sciences, will use her $500 award to help defray the cost of tuition. She is the daughter of Martha Deschaines, who works in the chaplain’s office at the college’s Center for Service-Learning, and Marcel Deschaines of Auburn.

Houston, a junior sports-medicine major at Lyndonville State College in Lyndonville, Vt., will use her $500 award to help defray the cost of tuition. She is the daughter of Joan Houston, a secretary in the college’s Facility Services department, and Homer Houston of Poland.

The Class of 1997 Scholarship Fund was established through the traditional Senior Gift effort undertaken by each graduating class at Bates. The Class of 1997 raised $19,000, the largest Senior Gift ever, which was matched by Dr. Helen A. Papaioanou, a 1949 Bates graduate and former college trustee. Seventy percent of the class participated in the gift effort, also a Bates record.

The Class of 1997 Scholarship Fund supports a broad range of learning opportunities including tuition support for secondary or post-secondary education at the institution of the designee’s choice. Eligibility for a Class of 1997 scholarship is limited to children of Bates staff with priority given to hourly employees in secretarial services, Facility Services, custodial services, security and dining services. Nominations for scholarships are directed to a committee composed of Bates employees that makes one or more scholarship awards annually.