Students selected as Remembrance Scholars for 2012-13 academic school year
A plaque at Syracuse University’s Faraday House in London ensured there was not a single day Perry Russom would not think of the tragic bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
‘I walked by it every day. And it kind of clicked,’ said Russom, a broadcast and digital journalism and political science major who is one of the 2012-13 Remembrance Scholars. ‘If you look at it, all of those kids were right around 20 years old, and that could have been anyone in our class, anyone that was abroad with me.’
The names of the 35 students selected as Remembrance Scholars for the 2012-13 academic school year were released Wednesday afternoon.
Each year, 35 juniors are awarded $5,000 scholarships for their senior year in honor of the SU students that were killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. These individuals serve as Remembrance Scholars during their senior year.
‘The Remembrance Scholars this year, as in other years, are tremendously talented students who have great potential, and I’m looking forward to discovering how they’re going to use that to mark their scholarship in Remembrance Week,’ said Judy O’Rourke, director of undergraduate studies.
Amanda Balch, a biology major and one of the individuals chosen to be a Remembrance Scholar, applied for the award because she attended the same New York high school as Theo Cohen, one of the victims of the attack.
Balch once lived on the same floor as the Lockerbie Scholars, and she said she wants to increase student participation in the event.
‘I participated in Remembrance Week event freshman year through present, and so it just means a lot to be one of the scholars I’ve been supporting since freshman year.’
The scholars come from numerous colleges on campus. Selected students demonstrate scholarship, citizenship and service to the community, according to the Remembrance Scholars website. It is considered to be one of the greatest honors an SU student can receive.
Said O’Rourke: ‘These are people who are not only accomplished academically, but who really care about their community and making a difference in the world, and that is what sets them apart from others.’
Published on April 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm
