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Habersham Electric Membership Corporation > Community > Walter Harrison Scholarship

Walter Harrison Scholarship

The Walter Harrison Scholarship was created in 1985 by the board of directors of Georgia EMC, an association representing the 42 electric cooperatives, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Georgia Transmission Corporation and Georgia System Operations Corporation.

The scholarship is named in honor of Walter Harrison, a pioneer in the rural electricity movement and a leader at the local, state, and national electric cooperative programs.

The $1,000 scholarship is open to all EMC members and employees throughout the state of Georgia.

The scholarship can be used at any accredited two or four-year university, college, or vo-tech institute in Georgia. Recipients must be enrolled in an accredited program, either full or part-time and must be undergraduate students only.

A combination of need and academic ability will be used in determining scholarship winners.

The application deadline for 2024 is January 31st.

Begin by completing and submitting the 2024 Walter Harrison Scholarship Application Form.

 

Scholarship Criteria

  1. The recipient’s primary residence must be the household of an EMC member or EMC employee. EMC members and employees are also eligible.
  2. The recipient must be enrolled in an accredited program, either full-time or part-time.
  3. The recipient must be an undergraduate student only.
  4. The scholarship fund will be in the form of a grant program with funds being paid to the college, university or technical school.
  5. A person may submit an application each year, but previous winners are not eligible for a second scholarship.
  6. The scholarship fund will provide $1,000 for each scholarship winner’s educational expenses. The number of scholarships will depend on the fund earnings.
  7. Scholarship use must commence within one year of date of issuance and be totally utilized within two years of the date of issuance. The school shall return any unused funds to the scholarship fund.
  8. The scholarship may be used at any two-year or four-year accredited college or university in Georgia including technical schools.
  9. A combination of need and academic ability will be used in determining scholarship fund winners.
  10. Each EMC may submit one application for each one-time $1,000 that they have contributed to the fund to the executive committee for consideration in choosing the scholarship fund winners.
  11. An executive committee will oversee the scholarship fund. This committee will consist of the Chairman of the Board of GEMC, the Vice-Chairman of the Board of GEMC, the Chairman of the Services Committee, the Manager of Planters EMC, the Manager of Excelsior EMC, and the Chief Executive Officer of GEMC (ex officio member).
  12. Georgia Southern University will administer the scholarship fund.
  13. Scholarship winners must notify their EMC Walter Harrison Scholarship Coordinator of their acceptance of the award and the name of the school they plan to attend by June 1st or they will forfeit the scholarship.