Scholarship

The Ray Campbell Memorial Scholarship

By: Edwina Campbell

The Ray Campbell Memorial Scholarship fund was created by Community Bankers Association of Ohio (CBAO) in August, 2010, soon after Ray passed away that year. CBAO felt it was important to honor a founding member of the organization and also to pay tribute to a man who dedicated many years to community banking by establishing Independent State Bank of Ohio (ISBO) in 1983 which became known as Great Lakes Bankers Bank (now part of United Bankers Bank).

The $1000 scholarship is presented each spring to a high school senior who is graduating from an Ohio high school and attending an Ohio based institute of higher education. The scholarship is open to high school seniors currently employed by a community bank or children, stepchildren or foster children of a community bank employee. The applicant must have a minimum GPA of 2.0 through their Junior year to be eligible for the scholarship. The main criteria is that the student writes a two-page essay about the impact that community banking has in their town and/or the state of Ohio and to include both community and financial support the bank provides to others. The student is asked to not reference their town or any other personal information in the essay so that the application remains anonymous during the review process. The concept of anonymity ensures that the application is evaluated solely on the merits of the quality of the essay and provides each student with an equal opportunity for success. A rubric was developed during the first year of the scholarship that is used to assess the essays which includes such things as grammar, content and originality. There have been several years where more than one essay has received an extremely high rating and a decision was made by the review committee to award multiple scholarships. Each year, during the awards ceremony at the recipients high school, I try to personally present the scholarship, or in the case of multiple scholarships to award at least one. When it is not possible to be there personally then I work closely with the guidance counselor of the high school of the recipient and they are always pleased to make the presentation. It is very rewarding to make the scholarship presentation and certainly the scholarship itself is an honor to Ray.

A special thank you to CBAO for keeping Ray’s memory alive and also for recognizing the children of community bank employees. If you know of a student who may be eligible this year or in future years, please encourage them to apply.

2022 Scholarship Application »

Have a question? Contact Christy Bridge at [email protected] or (614) 846-2625.