A Salina college student is one of 19 students honored with the Maud Wyatt Recognition Scholarship.

According to Kansas Wesleyan University, Olivia Velasquez earned the scholarship presented recently by the Kansas Independent College Foundation.

“I was very appreciative that I was able to get the scholarship — and very surprised,” said Velasquez, who is from Park City.

Velasquez is a rising senior planning to graduate in just three years, along with her brother, Frankie.

An Art Administration major, a hybrid of art and business classes, she has been active in music and visual arts for each semester at Kansas Wesleyan. With solo clarinet and band experience, she has been a member of the university’s Wind Ensemble, The Howl athletic band and orchestra.

Velasquez has begun to commit more time to visual arts and has received paid commissions for her graphic-arts designs.

“All of the fine and performing arts are inextricably linked because these are human experiences that require creativity, organization and mental focus,” Velasquez said.

As a freshman, Velasquez volunteered to be a stage manager for a KWU theatre production to have experience in all arts areas.

The Kansas Independent College Foundation awards up to 21 individual scholarships, one for a student at each member institution.  The recipients are all full-time, degree-seeking students on the cusp of graduation who have demonstrated excellence in academics, character and integrity, and a commitment to the value of a private college education in Kansas. These students lifted the spirit of their respective communities while also maintaining GPAs of 3.5 or above.

Each of the 19 scholarship recipients for 2023 demonstrate leadership, character, attention to academic excellence, appreciation for the impact that a private college education has had on their life and an understanding of how that private college education has prepared them for a lifetime of personal and professional fulfillment.

The scholarship was established in 1995 through the generosity of Maud Wyatt, whose bequest has supported the work of the Kansas Independent College Foundation and its institutions since 1961.

_ _ _

Kansas Wesleyan University Photo