Ashani Parker Named 2020 Somerville Scholar
Grace Cavanaugh ~ Editor in Chief
Ashani Parker has been named as University of Lynchburg’s 55th Sommerville Scholar.
The five other finalists were Amanda Linehan, Ellen Drubbisch, Jaquelyn Wilson, Niko Louvros, and Natalie Hanno.
According to the email sharing the Sommerville Scholar Livestream, “The Sommerville Scholarship is named after Richard Clarke Sommerville, a distinguished professor at then Lynchburg College, serving students for more than 20 years during a remarkably rich career and life. Professor Sommerville was a visible multi-disciplinarian, and Lynchburg allowed him the freedom to teach in the three fields he knew and loved the most—psychology, education, and philosophy. He had an even wider influence as he performed as an artist and actor within the local fine arts community. Following his retirement, he continued to participate in the life of the College and community. Upon his death in 1963, friends and colleagues established a scholarship in his honor, given for the first time in 1965 and awarded annually to a rising senior student with a QPA of 3.5 or higher scholarship and character without regard to activities or need. Their character should include the student’s attitude toward University of Lynchburg and the scholarly life in general…[as shown by] the scholarly habit and appetite which lead to ever-increasing knowledge.”
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