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NEWS RELEASE
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News Bureau • Schofield Hall 201 • Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900 |
Student Becomes First-Ever
Minority, Communication
Major to Receive Piercy Scholarship |
MAILED: May 15, 2001
EAU CLAIRE—Maiknue Moua, a UW-Eau
Claire junior from Green Bay, is the first- minority student, as well the
first communication major, to receive the George T. and Clayton T. Piercy
Memorial Scholarship.
The $5,500 scholarship is one of the UW-Eau Claire
Foundation’s largest and is awarded annually to a student who demonstrates
excellence in scholastic and co-curricular achievement. Moua was chosen from
among 27 applicants nominated by department chairs.
The scholarship was established in 1987 by retired Exxon
executive George Piercy, who died in 2000, in memory of his late brother
Clayton’s involvement with UW-Eau Claire. After he retired from his position
as an accountant with General Motors, Clayton Piercy moved to Eau Claire,
attended university classes and was active in the UW-Eau Claire Foundation.
Moua found inspiration from her family to apply for the
scholarship. Her parents came to the United States in 1979, following three
years spent in refugee camps in Thailand after fleeing their home in Laos.
“My most significant reason for applying is my
father,” Moua wrote in her scholarship application. “The hardships my
parents faced when they came to this country gave my father every reason to be a
strong believer in education.”
“My father has always given me support and motivation,
as well as encouraged me to challenge myself,” she wrote. “Most importantly,
he taught me that nothing is impossible as long as I believe in myself.”
Moua, who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.82,
is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi, and Mortar
Board, a student organization whose membership is based on service, scholarship and leadership.
She is also a campus
ambassador and a leader in the Eau Claire Hmong Student Association. She has
been active as a mentor and resource person to prospective UW-Eau Claire
students and their parents, and she was the recipient of the Sally A. Webb
Diversity Tuition Scholarship in Organizational Communication. Moua is also a
student employee in the UW-Eau Claire chancellor’s office.
“On paper, (Moua’s) application simply rose to the
top of a truly outstanding group of students who had been nominated by
department chairs as good candidates for the scholarship,” said Robert Shaw,
associate dean of students, whose office made the final selection of the
scholarship recipient. “Once you meet and get to know Maiknue, you understand
how faculty and others really see her as exceptional.”
Moua received the award at an honors banquet held April
28 in Davies Center at UW-Eau Claire.
-30-
JP
[Administrative Offices]
[News Bureau]
Janice B. Wisner
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu
Updated: May 15, 2001
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