Eight Eastern Michigan University students were awarded the Delores Soderquist Brehm Endowed Scholarship for the 2007-08 academic year. The $1 million endowed scholarship in special education continues to attract top students and helps them complete their studies at EMU.
Eastern Michigan's Department of Special Education is the largest department of its kind in the nation. Program graduates are recruited by school systems, medical facilities and community agencies across the nation. Eastern Michigan University is currently the only university in the nation to provide professional preparation for special education personnel across all areas of disability.
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BREHM SCHOLARS: Dee and Bill Brehm (seated) pose
with the 2007-2008 Delores Soderquist Brehm
Endowed Scholarship winners. They are (back row,
from left) Kelly Fortune, Joni Harhold, Jamie Vernier,
Amy Hill, Caroline Dundon, Patti Smith and Carrie Potts.
Katherine Naish is not pictured. Brehm, a 1952 alumna
of EMU, and her husband, William, created the first $1
million scholarship in EMU's history. The scholarship
provides tuition support for students studying special
education. Photo byAndy Sacks |
"I never realized how important everything I did here at Eastern — organizations and academics — was to my future," said Amy Hill, a sophomore from Marysville, specializing in the physically or otherwise health impaired. "This scholarship really made me feel important. It gave me the boost I needed right before I took on student teaching. Becoming a Brehm Scholar has changed my life in so many ways."
Started by Delores Brehm, a 1952 alumna of Eastern Michigan University, along with her husband William, the scholarship is the first $1 million scholarship in EMU's history, providing tuition support for students studying special education.
"Being selected as a Brehm Scholar has been such an honor," said Jamie Vernier, a junior from Westland, specializing in cognitive impairment. "I am proud to be a part of such a great family of scholars. Receiving this scholarship has helped me reach one of the biggest goals in my life, becoming a special educator. And, for that, I am incredibly thankful."
Others receiving the scholarship are: Caroline Dundon, a junior from Bloomfield Hills, specializing in emotionally impaired; Kelly Fortune, a master's student from St. Joseph, hearing impaired; Joni Harhold, a master's student fromTrenton, learning disabled; Katherine Naish, a master's student from Rochester, cognitive impairment; Carolyn Potts, a master's student from Ann Arbor, speech/language pathology; and Patricia Smith, a master's student from Ann Arbor, visual impairment.
