WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Two students from Indiana have been selected as recipients of the Wade Steffey Memorial Scholarship. Trent Huckstep of Carmel and Kelli Chupp of Osceola are set to enter Purdue University in the fall. The scholarship provides $2,000 for each of the students for the 2009-10 academic year.

The Wade Steffey Memorial Fund was created by Purdue to honor Wade Steffey, who died Jan. 13, 2007, when he entered an electrical vault in the basement of Owen Hall, a Purdue student residence building. Steffey was a National Merit Scholar and Eagle Scout who was majoring in aviation technology at Purdue.

The Wade Steffey Memorial Fund was created by Purdue to honor Wade Steffey, who died Jan. 13, 2007, when he entered an electrical vault in the basement of Owen Hall, a Purdue student residence building. His body was found March 19, 2007, after extensive searches by police agencies, university staff and hundreds of volunteers. Steffey, from Bloomington, Ind., was a National Merit Scholar and Eagle Scout who was majoring in aviation technology at Purdue.

“I really hope that Wade is remembered as a good friend to all kinds of people and that he built bridges between groups and brought people together,” said Dale Steffey, Wade’s father. “He was smart, kind and honest. We hope that this scholarship honors Wade and that it helps the university remember the extraordinary coming together that occurred when Wade was missing.”

While at Purdue, Huckstep plans to major in pharmacy, and Chupp plans to major in science.

Huckstep and Chupp were selected based on their academic excellence, school and community involvement, and financial need.

Students eligible for the scholarship must be from Indiana and plan to attend Purdue.

EVANSTON, Ill. — Today National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC)
announced the names of 2,500 distinguished high school seniors who have won National Merit $2500 Scholarships, four of whom live in Greater Lafayette. The Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of approximately 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The four local winners are:

• Jonathon D. Foster of Lafayette (Harrison High School)
• Philip K. Thomas of West Lafayette (Harrison High School)
• Karen Shen of West Lafayette (West Lafayette High School)
• Xixiang Xu of West Lafayette (West Lafayette High School)

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. They were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. These Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

NMSC is financing most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees.

All Finalists competed for these awards. To select scholarship winners, a committee of educators appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay describing interests and goals; and the recommendation written by a high school official. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s high school graduating seniors.

This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2007 when more than 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less
than one percent of the state’s seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state representational basis. Only the 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2009 program, about 8,200 Finalists will earn the “Merit Scholar” title and receive a total of nearly $36 million in college scholarships.

NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 500 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and enhancing their educational opportunities.

EVANSTON, Ill. — More than 1,900 additional winners of National Merit Scholarships
financed by colleges and universities have been announced by National Merit Scholarship
Corporation (NMSC). These Merit Scholar designees join over 2,800 other college-sponsored
award recipients who were announced in late May.

Of the 1,900 additional winners, 3 were from Lafayette-West Lafayette:

• Andrew J. West, Jefferson HS, Lafayette
• Joe D. Drummond, West Lafayette HS, West Lafayette
• Andrew S. Pfaff, Harrison HS, West Lafayette

Officials of each sponsor college selected their winners from among Finalists in the
National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution. College-sponsored awards
provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the
institution financing the scholarship.

This year 194 colleges and universities are sponsoring some 4,700 Merit Scholarship
awards. Sponsor colleges, located in 43 states and the District of Columbia, include 115 private
and 79 public institutions.

This final group of winners brings the number of 2008 National Merit Scholars to
approximately 8,300. These distinguished high school graduates will receive scholarships for
undergraduate study worth a total of approximately $36 million. In addition to college-sponsored
awards, two other types of National Merit Scholarships were offered—2,500 National Merit
$2500 Scholarships for which all Finalists competed and about 1,100 corporate-sponsored Merit
Scholarship awards for Finalists who met criteria specified by their grantor organizations.

2008 National Merit Scholarship Competition

This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began when more than 1.4 million
juniors in over 21,000 high schools took the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In
September 2007, some 16,000 Semifinalists were named on a state representational basis, in numbers
proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of high school graduating seniors.
Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one
percent of a state’s seniors.

To advance to the Finalist level of the competition, Semifinalists had to meet additional
requirements. In addition to submitting a detailed scholarship application, which included an
essay describing activities, interests, and goals, they had to have an outstanding academic
record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT scores that
confirmed the qualifying test performance. About 15,000 Semifinalists attained Finalist
standing, and more than half of this group were chosen to receive National Merit Scholarships.

Established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Program, NMSC is a not-for-profit
corporation that operates without government assistance. Over the past 53 years, more than
259,000 outstanding young men and women have won National Merit Scholarships worth over
$898 million. The majority of awards offered each year are underwritten by approximately 500
independent corporate organizations and higher education institutions that support NMSC’s efforts
to recognize scholastically talented youth and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.