Adeyooye Scholarship Endowed

Date: 12/11/06
Contact: Eric Jome

A scholarship honoring Olamide E. Adeyooye has been endowed thanks to more than $22,000 in donations to the Illinois State University Student Foundation (ISUSF). The scholarship honors Adeyooye, an Illinois State student who was abducted and slain in October 2005.

Fundraising efforts for the Olamide E. Adeyooye Scholarship began late in 2005. The fund has grown steadily thanks to donations from students, faculty and community members and through events such as the Play for Olamide Bean Bags Tournament in September 2006 and the Olamide Benefit Concert earlier this month.

The first scholarship will be awarded in 2007 during Illinois State's 150th Celebration.

"The Student Foundation is very excited to have the Olamide E. Adeyooye Memorial Scholarship endowed," said Student Foundation President Chandler Vandenberg. "We hope that in creating this scholarship in Olamide's memory it will ensure that her legacy here at Illinois State University will live on. We thank all of the donors that made endowing this scholarship possible. It really could not have been accomplished without their kindness and generosity."

"I am proud of the efforts of the Student Foundation for establishing this scholarship, and the generosity of the donors who have endowed it," said Illinois State President Al Bowman. "Olamide Adeyooye's death was a tragic time in our University's history. However, this scholarship will help to carry on the memory of a young woman who was a dedicated student and a caring friend."