The Dayton Alumni Scholarship was established in 2013 to keep our heritage alive—the 85 years of our Dayton Campus history from 1875 to 1960.
The alumni who graduated from the Dayton Campus were a close community, as there were only a few hundred students enrolled. The classes were small and everyone knew each other.
In 1875, the university was founded as Shenandoah High School in Dayton, Virginia. The following year, the school was renamed Shenandoah Seminary and was affiliated with the Virginia Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
During the next 85 years, the institution changed names five times but always kept “Shenandoah” as part of its name. In 1946, The Church of the United Brethren in Christ became part of the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church, and a study group recommended closing Shenandoah College and Shenandoah Conservatory of Music because of its financial instability. However, rather than closing the school, after becoming president in 1956, Dr. Forrest S. Racey oversaw the move to Winchester.
Ground was broken for the new Winchester Campus in 1958 with two buildings — the Armstrong Building to house the conservatory and the Gregory Building to house the college and administrative offices. The last classes in Dayton began in the fall of 1959 with an enrollment of 159 students. Shenandoah opened its doors in Winchester in September 1960. A grand celebration was held in 2010 to commemorate our 50th anniversary in Winchester.
Eligibility requirements
- The applicant must be enrolled the next academic year/semester and preference will be given to a junior or senior at Shenandoah University.
- It is recommended that the applicant shall have achieved a college grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
- The applicant must show involvement in extracurricular activities and community service and have clear career goals.
- The applicant must demonstrate financial need. (Submitted current FAFSA form.)
- Consideration will be given to relatives of Dayton alumni — those who attended Shenandoah University when the school was located in Dayton, Virginia between 1875 and 1960.
- The applicant must agree to send a letter of thanks to the Dayton Alumni Scholarship Committee and personally thank the donors during a campus event
Recipients
2024 | Meredith Lloyd ’24
Bachelor of Science in Biology
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
2024 | Caitlyn Sweet ’24
Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science
2023 | Alisha Holdcroft ’23, ’25
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
2022 | Lily Kimble ’23
Bachelor of Science in Data Science and Applied Math
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
2021 | Brianna Turner ’20
Bachelor of Business Administration
2020 | Jasmine Lockwood ’22
Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies
2019 | Victoria Moore ’19
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
2018 | Kelli Hess ‘18
Bachelor of Music in Music Education
2017 | Allison Kleffman ’15, ’18
Bachelor of Science in History
Bachelor of Science in Education
2016 | Ryan Parker ’15, ’17
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
2015 | Brittani Dodson ’15
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
2014 | Madison Armstrong ’15
Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications
Minors in English and Women’s Studies