Whitehall City Auditor Shaquille Alexander is using his own funds create a scholarship for Whitehall-Yearling High School graduates who attend Otterbein University.
The donation of $25,000 from Alexander will fund an endowed scholarship for high school graduates who plan to attend Otterbein University and study at the university's Business, Accounting, and Economics Department (BAE).
The scholarship will be named the Shaquille Alexander '18 Endowed Scholarship, according to a copy of the agreement between Alexander and the university. Alexander said he is using his own funds to support the scholarship because he understands how life can be difficult without the proper resources, and this was his way of giving back to the community.
"Life is often
challenging, but with the right resources, a bit of curiosity, and steadfast determination, [young people in Whitehall] can achieve more than they ever imagined possible," Alexander said.
Alexander graduated from Whitehall-Yearling High School in 2014 and graduated cum laude from Otterbein University in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in finance and business administration. He was appointed city treasurer in 2022 and became the city auditor this year following the retirement of then-City Auditor Steve Quincel. He is also a certified public accountant.
The scholarship should be fully funded by 2031 based on the investment schedule, said Dana Viglietta, the university's executive director for Philanthropy. The first scholarship will be awarded in the fall of 2033 by the school's financial aid office.
What are the scholarship requirements?
To qualify for the scholarship, potential recipients must be graduates of Whitehall-Yearling High School and plan to pursue a degree in business, accounting or economics at Otterbein University. If there isn't a student who graduated from the high school who plans to study in that program, then it may be awarded to a student who is studying another academic discipline, said Viglietta.
There is no GPA requirement for the scholarship, Viglietta said. A potential recipient would have to be admitted to Otterbein based on the school's admission application standards to receive the scholarship. Potential recipients would need to be enrolled in a four-year degree program, said Viglietta.
The financial aid office will identify eligible Whitehall-Yearling High School students and determine how the scholarship will be awarded, Viglietta said. While it will likely go to a single student, the scholarship could be divided among multiple recipients.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Whitehall auditor donating $25K to create scholarship fund at Otterbein
