Non-traditional Ohio student wins $1,500 Dillon Scholarship
7/12/2008 11:33 PM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend



By SUZANNE R. STONE

Staff writer

A bequest from an Aiken woman is helping a wife and mother of two achieve her dream of completing her college degree as a non-traditional student in midlife.

The United Methodist Church General Board of Higher Education and Ministry has awarded the first Virginia S. Dillon Scholarship in the amount of $1,500 to Lynn Phillips of Goshen, Ohio, a 45-year-old student at Xavier University pursuing a bachelor's degree in special education. The scholarship fund is designed for students over 35 years old who return to college to complete their education.

"Gini was an only child, and she left school during the war years without completing her college education," said Barbara Sue Brodie, executor of Dillon's estate.

"She married Ira Dillon, who was a nuclear engineer in Illinois. When he retired, he took a job as a professor at Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama, and Gini had the opportunity to go back to school later in life. She finished her degree in English when she was 40 years old."

Dillon died on Nov. 30, 2006, and left the bulk of her estate to various education-related charities, including bequests to USC Aiken, her late husband's alma mater of Oregon State University, and one of more than $84,000 to the United Methodist Church's education department for a scholarship fund.

"She chose the United Methodist Church because that was the church she grew up in, and when they contacted me to find out what her wishes for this fund would have been, I thought she would have loved to be able to help other people in the same position she was in when she went back to school. Education and sharing knowledge was very important to her," said Brodie.

Phillips, who attends classes during the week and through a Saturday program, estimates it will take her two more years to complete her degree. She plans on a career as an early childhood special needs intervention specialist.

"It's really wonderful, especially because there are not a lot of scholarships out there for non-traditional students," Phillips said, upon receiving the scholarship.

Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.

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