A Northwestern State University student with plans to pursue a career in the medical field will benefit from a scholarship created in memory of L.C. and Trudy Conine. The endowed scholarship, created by the couple’s daughter Connie Conine of Natchitoches, will be presented to an incoming freshman for four years through graduation as long as criteria are met. The scholarship will benefit a student majoring in science who maintains a 2.5 or better grade point average and demonstrates a financial need.
“Mother made sure I had a scholarship to attend Northwestern and I had a student job,” Conine said. “I want to make sure someone else has the chance to go to school.”
Three-fourths of Conine’s initial donation will go towards an endowment and one quarter will go straight to a student.
“Ms. Conine established this scholarship in honor of family members that will go to a student in one of NSU’s largest and most diverse programs, biological sciences,” said Drake Owens, executive director of the NSU Foundation. “These funds will help with tuition, lab fees, textbooks and other costs associated with pursuing a degree in science.”
Conine was a chemistry/zoology major at Northwestern State and enjoyed a 40-year career as a medical technician in a hospital lab in Dallas. She said the ideal recipient is “someone who wants to work in the medical field, whether in nursing, medical technology, physical therapy, or anyone interested in studying the sciences.”
The Conine family has many ties to Northwestern. All four Conine siblings – Christi, Connie, Cliff and Curt — attended Northwestern, though Cliff and Curt finished their degrees elsewhere. Christi married Mike Whittington, whose father taught math at NSU and whose mother worked in the library. Cliff married Frances Watkins Conine, Northwestern State’s current dean of students. Conine described her parents as creating a loving family who believed in education.
“It was always our parents intention that we go to college,” Conine said. “Our parents made sure we got to go to school, even though neither of them went to college. I wanted to do this because our parents did right by us and I wanted to pay it forward.”
To contribute to the scholarship, contact Jill Bankston, associate director of university advancement, at (318) 357-4241 or email bankstonj@nsula.edu.
