Recently, Service Corporation International (SCI), the continent’s biggest funeral and cemetery service provider, awarded nine Ivy Tech Community College Mortuary Science students scholarships.
The award came as part of SCI’s annual International Scholarship Program, which seeks to promote excellence in the funeral service field by recognizing and supporting students with exceptional leadership potential.
This year, SCI awarded 50 scholarships nationwide, a total of $87,000. The company selected awardees based on the criteria of academic performance, community involvement, a personal video submission and one-on-one interviews with SCI leadership. Four Ivy Tech students will receive $1,000 scholarships, and five others, who made the top 15 finalists, will travel to Houston in late April for a round of final interviews and an opportunity to win $3,000 or $5,000 scholarships. Since the scholarship’s inception in 2011, $300,000 has been awarded.
“The faculty of the mortuary science program are very proud of the hard work our students put into this project. The students worked very closely with Mike Hurt, mortuary science faculty member, to fine-tune their applications for the scholarships,” said Brian Miller, program chair for Mortuary Science at Ivy Tech Community College Central Indiana. “This group of students are very worthy of the honor they have been given. They are strong in academics and show leadership potential. Many of the students have earned the Mortuary Science Community Service Award, proving they are engaged in their communities. They will be a great asset to the funeral service profession.”
Ivy Tech of Central Indiana’s Mortuary Science program is based out of its Lawrence campus. The program’s focus is on educating students in every phase of funeral service including working with bereaved families and maintaining a working knowledge of the federal, state and local regulatory guidelines.
“Our students gain firsthand experience in embalming and preparing decedents for burial. Our program is one of the few programs in the country, however, that places an equal amount of emphasis on the funeral directing activities that grieving families experience. Our students work with licensed funeral directors in all aspects of funeral service,” said Miller.
Students also learn the theoretical and practical aspects in all areas of funeral service including embalming, restorative art and funeral service merchandising, such as caskets and burial vaults.
