U of I students may apply for Avery Brundage scholarships

Applications for the 36th annual Avery Brundage Scholarship competition for University of Illinois students who excel in both academics and athletics are being accepted now through Saturday, January 31, 2009. Applications can be submitted only online at www.usp.uillinois.edu/brundage.

Full-time students, including incoming freshmen, graduate, and transfer students, may apply for Brundage scholarships. Grant-in-aid recipients may be eligible under specified conditions. Academic and athletic competence will be considered over financial need.

Undergraduate and transfer applicants must rank in the top 25 percent of their college, while incoming freshmen must rank in the top 25 percent of their incoming class. Graduate and professional students must be in good academic standing.

Students must also demonstrate "special athletic ability" in an amateur sport, and their participation must have been for personal development rather than as preparation for professional athletics. Previous winners represent a wide variety of sports from archery and tennis to swimming and wheelchair basketball. Last year, 19 winners were awarded $2,500 each.

Avery Brundage was a 1909 graduate of the U of I who competed in the 1912 Olympics and later served as president of both the U.S. and International Olympic committees. Before his death in 1975, he maintained his interest in the University through service as a member of the University of Illinois Foundation, President's Council, and Citizen's Committee.

Brundage established the scholarship in 1974 with an endowment to the U of I Foundation of $343,000. Over the past 35 years, 732 scholarships with a total value of $858,000 have been awarded.