MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Three nontraditional students at Middle Tennessee State University got a boost to their education as recipients of the 2024 June S. Anderson Scholarship.

Funded through the June S. Anderson Foundation at MTSU, the scholarship recipients for the 2024-25 academic year are Kayla Albee of Nashville; Hannah Evans of Dyersburg; and Heather Mason of Clarksville.

The foundation annually awards full-tuition scholarships to students age 25 and older who are preparing for careers in fields that are nontraditional for women.

That late June S. Anderson, for whom the foundation is named, taught chemistry at MTSU from 1958 to 1983. She established the foundation in 1982 to provide scholarships to students in areas of study where women were underrepresented.

In addition to the scholarships, the foundation presented the inaugural Outstanding Mentor for Women award to philosophy professor Mary Magada-Ward, past president of the nonprofit professional organization.

“She regularly mentors honor students and, as many of us can attest, she’s very supportive of her colleagues, especially women,” said Andrienne Friedli, MTSU chemistry professor and current president of the June S. Anderson Foundation, at an awards luncheon held Aug. 16 at Through the Grapevine in Murfreesboro.

Magada-Ward has been the recipient of three prestigious teaching awards at MTSU and served in various leadership roles — including the President’s Commission on the Status of Women — and nearly 30 years on the foundation board.

The service to the foundation has been a labor of love, Magada-Ward assured.

“Being a part of this organization has always been satisfying. It’s not just because of everybody that we get to support, but it’s also that we’ve been able to encourage women to go into nontraditional fields and get folks to finish their degrees,” Magada-Ward said.

And it’s made all the difference for students like this year’s recipients, who all three struggled to balance the varying challenges nontraditional students face on a regular basis.

Scholarship winners

Kayla Albee, who is majoring in anthropology with minors in history and English, is the first in her family to pursue a college degree. Although it’s taken the senior nearly a decade to reach the finish line, she has maintained a 4.0 along the way.

“The scholarship is a blessing to allow me to continue my education without the looming threat of more student loans,” Albee said. “It just goes to show that my hard work has really paid off and this allows me to continue focusing on my academic career and postgraduate goals as well.”

And after she graduates in spring 2025, she hopes to pursue a master’s degree in public history with a career goal of working in academia or museums.

As a single mom, Heather Mason said juggling a challenging course load and family time with her 9-year-old son has been far from easy. But receiving the scholarship is a reminder that “all the hard work and late nights are worth it.”

“The support really gives me motivation,” said Mason, a plant and soil science major who is set to graduate next spring. “Your belief in my journey makes all the difference.”

Eventually, Mason hopes to establish a farm focused on sustainability practices, herbal medicine and environmental stewardship through community engagement and agritourism.

The journey to earning a degree has a bumpy ride for aerospace major Hannah Evans. Following high school graduation, she took on an extra job to help support her family and help with her aging grandmother before heading toward her goal to become a professional pilot.

“I was in and out of college for eight to 10 years, so I didn’t know if I’d ever get here,” said the senior pro pilot student. “I always wanted to, and it just means the world to me that someone thought I deserved it.”

About the foundation

In addition to the scholarship foundation, Anderson founded Concerned Faculty and Administrative Women in 1975 as an academic support service for women and established the Women’s Information Service for Education in 1977.

She also founded Women in Higher Education in Tennessee, participated in the university’s Rape Alert program, conducted women’s studies classes and championed pay equity, child care centers and expanding campus safety lighting.

The June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students on campus also bears her name. Anderson died in 1984.

— Nancy DeGennaro (nancy.degennaro@mtsu.edu)