In the Fall of 2016, the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar established the Rotary Indigenous Scholarship at the University of Sudbury. The scholarship is awarded to an Indigenous student entering Second, Third or Fourth year and they receive $7,000/year until they graduate. Preference is given to a mature student and is awarded based on their financial needs, involvement in Indigenous activities and future plans to work with Indigenous communities. The initial program only allowed us to sponsor one student at a time.

 

In the Fall of 2019, the Rotary Club of Oakville joined the Scholarship Program which allowed us to now select a new recipient each Fall. Under the new program, each recipient receives $5,000/year until they graduate.

 

So far we have awarded four scholarships. The first recipient, Stepfanie Johnston graduated, obtained her Master’s degree from the University of Toronto and is now at McMaster studying to become a medical doctor, with plans to return to an Indigenous community to work. Read more about Stepfanie Johnston.

 

The second recipient, Sonnie Debassige was unable to complete her fourth year in the Spring of 2020, but we are hopeful that she will return at some point to complete her education.

 

Hailey Sutherland, our third recipient, entered her third year in the Fall of 2020 in Developmental Psychology and plans to obtain her Master’s and Ph.D. in Psychology before returning to First Nations communities to help.

 

Our most recent recipient, Kayla Sunshine entered her second year in the Fall of 2020 in Indigenous Studies with a minor in Entrepreneurship.

 

We are always looking for individuals or other Rotary Clubs that might be interested in helping support this program financially. For more information, please contact Cliff Thompson at info@rcot.ca.