Press Release : Northern Alumni Association Awards Annual Scholarships

The Northern Alumni Association of Montana State University—Northern awarded 15 $750 scholarships at MSU-Northern’s annual Award’s Convocation held on Friday, April 13th, 2007 in the SUB Ballroom.

Each year, the Association gives two Keith Clawson Memorial Endowed Scholarships to incoming freshmen in memory of Keith Clawson who was an NMC administrator, faculty member and student advisor. This year Jake Boreson of Opheim, Montana and Jacob Graham of Libby, Montana received the awards.

Jake Boreson is a 2007 graduate of Opheim High School and will be enrolling in diesel technology at MSU-Northern this fall. A leader in 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA), he received numerous awards for competitions in mechanics, livestock judging and illustrated talks. Active in student government, he was either the class president or vice president every year. Boreson was a member of the First Lutheran Youth Group throughout high school and participated in several community service projects for the community including improvements and upkeep at the Opheim Cemetery and Gazebo Park. He is the son of Ben and Connie Boreson of Opheim. Ben Boreson is a 1985 graduate of the Northern diesel technology program.

Jacob Graham is a 2007 graduate of Libby High School and will be studying biology at Northern. Graham is a three sport letterman receiving All-Academic awards in all three sports of football, track and wrestling. He is a two-time All-Conference and State Champion Wrestler. His senior year he was an All-Conference and State Champion football team member and was an alternate to the East-West Shrine game. Graham is a member of the National Honor Society and was selected as the Homecoming King his senior year. He volunteers for the Libby Booster Club, Christmas Tree Pickup, Libby Wrestling Club, Little Guy Wrestling Club, Libby Logger Days, and Nordicfest. He is the son of Jay ’85 and Judy (Green) Graham ’86 of Libby. His father, Jay, was a Northern Lights wrestler and his mother, Judy, played basketball for the Skylights.

Three additional Keith Clawson Memorial Scholarships were awarded. The Non-Traditional Student Scholarship was awarded to Joy Linn of Saco, Montana; the Single Parent Scholarship to Melanie Blake of Great Falls, Montana; and the Continuing Student Scholarship to Jocelyn Chagnon of Havre, Montana. Other Association scholarships awarded were the Class of ’41 Scholarship to Trinity Raymond, Malta, Montana and the Fine Arts Scholarship to Allyssa Manion, Three Forks, Montana.

The Northern Alumni Association supports eight athletic scholarships annually. The men’s basketball scholarship was awarded to Shaun Tatarka of Great Falls and the women’s basketball scholarship was given to Ashley Trulock, of Troy, Mary DeVries of Chester, and Samm Schermele of Great Falls, Montana. The football scholarships were awarded to Cole Brevig, Lewistown, Tom Kain, Helena, and Justin Lohman of Choteau, Montana. The Alumni Rodeo scholarship was awarded to Justin Jones of Great Falls, and Kirsty Robinson of Dodson, Montana. The scholarships for volleyball, golf, wrestling and rodeo will be awarded at a later date.

The deadline for alumni scholarships is February 1st of each year. Anyone interested in the criteria and application information for any of the Northern Alumni Association scholarships can contact the MSU-Northern Financial Aid office at (406) 265-3787 or the Northern Alumni Office at (406) 265-3770 or (800) 661-6132 or online.