Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 5/22/98
      Contact:                           Carol Dotson   115

PONCHATOULA LIONS CLUB AWARDS FIRST SCHOLARSHIP
     HAMMOND, LA -- Cathy Pierre, a 1998 graduate of Ponchatoula High School is the
first recipient of the Ponchatoula Lions Club's "Excellence in Education Scholarship."
     The full tuition scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University was created by the club
to "provide financial assistant to Ponchatoula students who display leadership potential and will 
attend Southeastern."
     Pierre, the daughter of Jocqueline Pierre, was involved in athletics in high school. She
played basketball, volleyball, and ran track. The soon-to-be college freshman has not yet decided
on a major, but has narrowed it down to criminal justice or math.     
     "We've been talking about doing this scholarship for a number of years," said Lions Club
president Louis Schilling. "Finally one of the members, Guy Canzoneri Jr, who was attending
SLU, said he would talk to the Southeastern Development office and get it moving. 
     "We want to help those who need help, give them that extra nudge to get a good running
start in life. Our weekly bingo is our main fundraiser for our projects. We draw a lot of
community people to that and it's good that we can turn around and put that money back into the
community."
     Schilling said the goal is to build an endowment for the scholarship so that it can be
given continuously and even increase the number of scholarships the organization gives.
According to Schilling, the Ponchatoula Lions Club has eight charities that they contribute to
regularly and in the thirteen years of its existence, club has contributed over $300,000 dollars
back into the community. 
     In order to qualify for the Ponchatoula Lions Club's Excellence in Education Scholarship,
students must have graduated from Ponchatoula high school with a 3.0 or better grade point
average, should be well rounded, involved in extracurricular activities and have a demonstrated
financial need. The applicants are recommended to apply by the principal and have to submit an
essay. The scholarship is renewable as long as the student maintains an overall average of 2.5
and is enrolled at Southeastern as a full time student.                    
       
                                  -SLU-