Each year the Greater Kansas City AOII Alumni Chapter has the privilege of administering two scholarship funds from the University of Kansas Endowment and one from the University of Central Missouri. The chapter proudly awards these scholarship funds to female students who meet the award requirements.
Between the two KU scholarships, The Alpha Omicron Pi Scholarship and the Jessie Marie Cramer Scholarship, there are some slight differences. The AOII Scholarship is granted to an undergraduate or graduate level initiated member. While the Jessie Marie Cramer Scholarship is awarded to a female student who is entering her senior year and is from the Greater Kansas City area. Financial need must be demonstrated for both scholarships. For the 2018-2019 school year, KCAOII is pleased to award $10,672 to five deserving recipients: Abigail Torpy, Kristin Vickers, Hannah Madden, Jaitreyon Armstrong, & Lauren Young.
Please read below to learn about these outstanding scholarship recipients.
Abbigail Torpy
Abby is a current Higher Education Administration Master’s student at the University of Kansas, where she also works as a graduate assistant for the Office of Sorority & Fraternity Life within the Student Involvement & Leadership Center. Before moving to Kansas, Abby graduated from Texas A&M University in May 2018 and now holds a BA in Communication, with a certificate in Strategic Communication and minor in Psychology. While at Texas A&M, Abby was a colony member for the Tau Mu chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi, and served as the chapter’s first Vice President of Communications. Along with AOII, she was involved in Texas A&M’s College of Liberal Arts Student Council, Aggie Orientation Leader Program, and worked at the Women’s Resource Center.
Hannah Madden
Hannah Madden is a senior at the University of Kansas from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. She is studying marketing with a minor in French. Hannah spent the past spring semester studying at University College Dublin in Ireland. At KU, she is involved in the Business Mentorship Program, the Business Honors Program, and a campus ministry called the Oread Center. She works at the Business Communication Center and help students develop their written communication skills. When Hannah is not in class or working, she likes to spend time with friends, studying at coffee shops, or play tennis.
Kristin Vickers
Kristin Vickers is a senior at the university of Kansas majoring in Molecular Biosciences. In the future, she’d like to work in the field of genetic bioinformatics, sequencing genes and analyzing proteins to determine the cause of diseases and develop treatments for them.
Jaitreyon Armstrong
Jaitreyon is a senior at the University of Kansas, majoring in public administration and she plans to use her degree to help educate communities on the importance of having civil communities. She is also receiving two certificates in entrepreneurship and service learning and will use her experiences from those courses to create a nonprofit for battered teens in the kc metro area.
Lauren Young
Lauren Young is going to be a freshman at the University of Kansas, studying Atmospheric Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Science. She graduated from Olathe North High School, and participated in activities such as choir, LINK crew, National Honors Society, as well as the Geoscience Academy 21st Century Program. Lauren is very excited to be starting at KU this fall!
For the 2018-2019 school year, KCAOII is pleased to award Rachel Williams a student at the University of Central Missouri $600.00 in scholarship funds. Each year the Greater Kansas City AOII Alumni Chapter and the University of Central Missouri award a female entering her senior year the Jessie Marie Cramer Scholarship. Please read about Rachel below.
Rachel Williams
Rachel Williams is 23 years old from Lee’s Summit, Missouri. She is triple majoring in Finance, Economics and Corporate Fitness at the University of Central Missouri. After the completion of one degree in 2016 she developed a passion in bodybuilding and decided to broaden her knowledge further and add Corporate Fitness. In June of 2016, the Assistant Director of Communications/ Editor of To Dragma, Haley Cahill, reached out to her to write an article discussing her passion as a bodybuilder and the journey she went through at UCM to reach her goals. The positive feedback from Rachels peers and sisters assured her she made the right decision. Rachel is currently working in public service and her plans upon graduation are to continue within the public service field and open a personal gym that will offer general training services and specialized conditioning for strength training and bodybuilders. She is thankful for the opportunities and experiences she has had and would not be the woman she is today without the sisterhood she has developed through Alpha Omicron Pi.