Scholarship recipients receiving their awards

Scholarship recipients (from left) receiving their awards during a special ceremony are Jillian Taylor, Leslie Duran, Jessica Hardges and Hannah Brown. (Photo provided)

May 03, 2024

SIU Women’s Club awards record scholarship funding in 2024

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The SIU Women’s Club has awarded scholarships to four Southern Illinois University Carbondale students this spring.  

The organization has given numerous scholarships to women since it began in 1956, but this is the first time it has awarded four $2,000 scholarships in one year. 2024 recipients are Hannah Brown, Jessica Hardges, Leslie Duran and Jillian Taylor.

The club bestows two awards named for former “first ladies” of the university: the Dorothy Morris Traditional Student Scholarship and the Joyce Guyon Non-Traditional Student Scholarship. When funding allows, the organization also provides one-time scholarships to outstanding applicants. This year, it presented two Leadership and Empowerment Scholarship Awards.

The honor roll

The 2024 winners, listed with their scholarships, hometowns, high schools and year and major at SIU, are:

  • Brown, of Carbondale, Illinois, won the Dorothy Morris Traditional Student Scholarship. A graduate of Carbondale Community High School, she is a senior computer science major.
  • Hardges won the Joyce Guyon Non-Traditional Student Scholarship. A 2002 graduate of Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, Illinois, and a single mother, Hardges has nearly 25 years of secretarial experience but a passion for style and fashion, and she transitioning to a new career at SIU, where she is now a senior fashion studies major.
  • Leslie Duran, of Elgin, Illinois, won a Leadership and Empowerment Scholarship. A graduate of Barrington High School, she is a senior aviation management major.
  • Jillian Taylor, of Belvidere, Illinois, won a Leadership and Empowerment Scholarship. A graduate of Belvidere High School, she is a junior mortuary science and funeral service major.

Helping for decades

The SIU Women’s Club, which dates back to 1938, is a social organization for women who have a professional or personal connection to SIU. The group sponsors a variety of events, trips and special interest groups, as well as the scholarships.