Five Fresno State students are recipients of Verna Mae Brooks Scholarships, the university’s highest paying non-athletic, four-year scholarship.

Open to students in any academic field, the scholarship is named after the late wife of Wayne Brooks, professor emeritus of business law at the Craig School of Business. He endowed the fund in 1997 to celebrate the legacy of Verna Mae, a community volunteer to whom he was married 40 years.

This year’s recipients include freshman Travis Melton of Bakersfield, who said the scholarship is “making a big difference” in his first year at Fresno State. “This was out of Dr. Brooks’ kindheartedness and his desire to see success in young individuals like myself,” Melton said.

To date, 15 students have received scholarships that can last in excess of five years.

Current winners (with class standing, hometowns and majors) are as follows:

Diana Diaz, sophomore, Lompoc, political science and Chicano studies

Kaitlin Harada, senior, Clovis, business management

Brianne Jackson, junior, Los Banos, health administration

Travis Melton, freshman, Bakersfield, plant science/ornamental horticulture

Ciana Singh, senior, Elk Grove, marketing

Recipients are required to maintain a 3.0 grade point average and perform community service. The award is in keeping with the sensibilities of Verna Mae, a strong education proponent and herself the recipient of a four-year scholarship at the University of Iowa.

“It is Verna Mae’s love of and dedication to learning that is one reason for the scholarships,” Wayne Brooks said. “Her impact is carried on through this scholarship. I hope it will lead students to impact society as this wonderful woman did.”

It’s a call heeded by former recipient Kirstie Hettinga, now a media ethics lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism. The award covered the cost of earning dual degrees in mass communication and journalism and theatre arts. The fund also gave her an additional year-and-a-half of financial support to pursue her master’s degree in mass communication.

“By knowing my tuition was covered, I was able to focus exclusively on my studies – and excel in them,” Hettinga said. “I would not have graduated as quickly as I did had it not been for the financial support of Dr. Brooks.”