Four students residing in Seminole County were recently awarded the Don Gill Scholarship at Seminole State College.

The four recipients are Britlee Morris of Wewoka, Hannah Potter of Seminole, Taegan Freeman of Seminole and Alexandra Newton of Seminole. Morris graduated from New Lima High School earlier this spring. Potter is a recent graduate of Varnum High School. Freeman and Newton are returning SSC students.

For many years Gill’s personal Foundation provided scholarships to help offset costs of attending SSC. Following his death in October of 2018, the Foundation Board has been working to preserve his wishes and to help more deserving students. Members of the Foundation Board are Shelly Trammell, Jonna Bunyan, Cynthia Yerby, Janelle Zehren and Linda Dearing, all of Seminole.

In order to apply for the Don Gill Scholarship, students must earn their high school diploma or an equivalent, must be enrolled full-time at SSC and must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. The scholarship is designed to assist non-athletes in their academic pursuits. Proof of enrollment and GPA will be evaluated each subsequent semester after the original award is presented in order to qualify for continuation of the scholarship.

Gill came to Seminole in 1969 along with former Seminole “Junior” College President Elmer Tanner and several other professors from Claremore. They made up the original faculty of the College as it separated from Seminole High School. He served as Dean of Students from 1969 to 1983 and taught speech in the Language Arts and Humanities Division until his retirement in 1991.

Seminole State College honored Gill with its Distinguished Service Award in 2014 for his longtime support of the College and his commitment to students of the institution.