Volunteering: Making a Difference (MAD) Scholarship

What is the M.A.D Scholarship?

The Making a Difference Scholarship is a $48,000 four-year scholarship ($12,000 per year) that is offered to domestic first-year students who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to, and leadership in, community engagement and social change. In addition, M.A.D Scholars are offered a $2,500 taxable stipend and housing allowance to support  projects they may undertake in the Worcester community during the summer following their sophomore or junior years. Summer project requirements and details are available from the Community Engagement and Volunteering (CEV) Program Coordinator at Corner House, or by emailing Micki Davis at midavis@clarku.edu.

Who is eligible to be a M.A.D Scholar?

M.A.D Scholars have shown exemplary involvement in and leadership in community engagement activities. Previous winners have founded an Amnesty International chapter at their high school,  organized Alternative Spring Break trips or planned educational programming around environmental and sustainability issues. Our expectation is that scholarship winners will enrich the Clark community through on-campus leadership and community involvement. Students are identified for this scholarship by their Admissions Counselors and finalists are invited to interview. Only incoming first-year students are eligible for this scholarship and  candidates should typically have a 3.0 high school grade point average and a SAT score of 1100 or higher.  Year to year continuation requirements include 20 hours of community service each semester and maintaining a 2.5 GPA. More information on Making A Difference scholarships.

Meet the 2008-09 M.A.D Scholars

• Lydia Biloskirka-Conley is a recent graduate of Newton North High School. She founded the Microcredit Club at her high school and worked to raise money for entrepreneurs in Guatemala. She was both a mentor in Violence Prevention and a peer mediator. She co-founded the Current Events Club at her high school and worked as a counselor at the New Art Center Camp. Biloskirka-Conley is from Newton, Mass.
• Tinyan Chan recently graduated from the Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill. As part of Chan's community work, she conducted an affordable-housing survey among residents of Boston's Chinatown and volunteered at Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses. Chan is from Boston.
• Will Colan is a recent graduate of Maranacook Community High School. Colan was selected to be an ambassador to represent his school at Maine Youth Leadership. He later returned and served as a junior counselor. In 2006 he was appointed to a two-year term in the Maine Legislative Youth Council. He has attended both the Diversity Leadership Institute at Bates College and the Seeds of Peace International Camp. Colan is from Readfield, Maine.
• Jennifer E. Pimentel is a recent graduate of Dennis Yarmouth Regional High School. Prior to her arrival at Clark, Pimentel was president of the Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) and a member of Amnesty International. She recently took part in Clark TREK Operation Restoration in New Orleans. Pimentel is from Dennisport, Mass.
• Eve Rabinowitz graduated from Friends Seminary this spring. Rabinowitz was an active member of her school's Hurricane Relief Committee; she traveled to Mississippi to aid in relief efforts. Rabinowitz also traveled to South Africa with the Bridges to Understanding Program to create an educational documentary. She is presently working to show the documentary at several venues to raise money to benefit a young mother she interviewed who is HIV positive. Rabinowitz is from New York City.
• Whitney Smith graduated from Brattleboro Union High School this spring. While in high school, Smith was a member of the student group Child Labor Education and Action. During her membership, she helped to pass a sweat-free policy for her school and became chair of the committee that has drafted a bill proposing that the state of Vermont become sweat-free too. Smith is from Brattleboro, Vt.

Past recipients of Clark's MAD scholarship have been involved with community-service organizations, political-action groups, human-rights campaigns and for-profit and nonprofit social entrepreneurship. Clark recognizes that change agents come from all backgrounds and offer a wide variety of valuable and compelling perspectives. The thread that links scholarship recipients together is their dedication to using their talents and energy to make a difference.