NEW MADRID COUPLE ENDOWS SCHOLARSHIP

A New Madrid couple recently made a donation to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation to establish the Welton N. and Louise M. O'Bannon Scholarship Fund.

The endowment will be used to fund three scholarships -- two for New Madrid County Central High School graduates and one for a graduate of Portageville High School.

Graduates at New Madrid County Central High School must be in the top 10 percent of their class and Portageville High School graduates must be in the top 15 percent of their class to qualify for the scholarships.

Southeast Missouri State University will award the scholarships based on student financial need and high school performance.

"We think everybody needs a college education," said Welton O'Bannon. "We want to help people who can't help themselves. We're doing this to help students in New Madrid and New Madrid County. We were born and raised here and the community has given a lot to us. Now, we thought we would give something back."

The scholarships will cover incidental fees for each student for up to 15 credit hours per semester. The scholarships will be renewable for three additional years if the recipients maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and successfully complete at least 24 semester hours per academic year.

The university will be responsible for annually determining whether the scholarship recipients are eligible for renewal.