Regions is proud to announce the winners of its annual Regions Riding Forward® Scholarship Contest. The contest, which entered its 11th year in 2022, honors Black History Month by encouraging young people to share the stories of Black Americans who inspire them.
This year’s contest featured a video essay category in addition to the traditional written essay. The addition of the video essay category doubled the potential number of scholarships awarded. High school and college winners were selected in each of the two entry categories. Winning high school seniors each received $5,000, and winning college students each received $3,500. In all, 55 winners were selected from more than 3,600 applications.
“The Riding Forward Scholarship Contest is an important way Regions celebrates Black History Month while also furthering educational opportunities for students,” said Abbas Merchant, head of Marketing for Regions Bank. “The passion of these students is seen in their writing and particularly in the video essays, and I hope you’ll be inspired by their messages as well.”
Winners of the contest are as follows and the full list, along with their winning written and video essays can also be found here
High School Winners and University/College to Be Attended:
Paul Aucremann (Clearwater, Fla.) – Florida State University
William Booker (Spartanburg, S.C.) – Harvard University
Robyn Cunningham (Atlanta, Ga.) – Georgia State University
Kani’ya Davis (Columbia, S.C.) – North Carolina A&T State University
Oluwatomi Dugbo (Chicago, Ill.) – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Lillian Goins (Conway, Ark.) – Wellesley College
Parker Hall (Lexington, Ky.) – Spelman College
Collin Hatfield (Indianapolis, Ind.) – Ball State University
Gabrielle Izu (Houston, Texas) – The University of Texas at Austin
Kylie Lauderdale (Tampa, Fla.) – University of Central Florida
Jacob Milan (Memphis, Tenn.) – The University of Texas at Dallas
Jackson Mitchell (Louisville, Ky.) – Eastern Kentucky University
Carmen Moore (Creedmoor, N.C.) – Averett University
Madison Morgan (Hornersville, Mo.) – University of Missouri-Columbia
Kaden Oquelí-White (New Orleans, La.) – Columbia University
Kaylin Parks (Waxhaw, N.C.) – North Carolina A&T State University
Brian Perryman (McCalla, Ala.) – The University of Alabama
De’Marco Riggins – (Port Gibson, Miss.) – Alcorn State University
Brianna Roundtree (Zionsville, Ind.) – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sydney Russell (Chicago, Ill.) – Winston-Salem State University
Carlie Spore (Dysart, Iowa) – Iowa State University
Morgan Standifer (St. Louis, Mo.) – Tennessee State University
Ionia Thomas (Little Rock, Ark.) – University of Central Arkansas
Ramaya Thomas (Atlanta, Ga.) – Tennessee State University
Jaylen Toran (Nashville, Tenn.) – University of Memphis
Amani Veals (Baton Rouge, La.) – University of New Orleans
Taylor Williams (Houston, Texas) – Stephen F Austin State University
Alana Wilson (Union Church, Miss.) – Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Taryn Wilson (Pelham, Ala.) – New York University
College Winners and Their College/University:
Aryaunna Armstrong (Salisbury, N.C.) – North Carolina A&T State University
Hannah Blackwell (Memphis, Tenn.) – Louisiana State University
T’Aneka Bowers (Houston, Texas) – Dillard University
Naomi Bradley (Acworth, Ga.) – Mercer University
Arianna Cannon (San Antonio, Tex.) – Texas Tech University
Taylor Cline (Swisher, Iowa) – University of Iowa
Catherine Cummings (Kansas City, Mo.) – University of Missouri-Columbia
Margaret Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo.) – University of Arkansas
Chloe Franklin (Great Lakes, Ill.) – Lake Forest College
Camryn Gaines (Ocean Springs, Miss.) – University of South Alabama
Thomas Greer (Nashville, Tenn.) – Baylor University
Kayla Helleson (Huntsville, Ala.) – Auburn University
Veronica Holmes (Memphis, Tenn.) – Fisk University
Paris King (Tallahassee, Fla.) – Mississippi State University
Logan Kurtz (Fort Wayne, Ind.) – Manchester University
Samuel Lambert (Paducah, Ky.) – University of Kentucky
Jaylon Muchison (Swansea , Ill.) – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Teresa Odom (Tifton, Ga.) – Thomas University
Andrew Payne (Bloomington, Ind.)- Indiana University-Bloomington
Carey Price – (Fort Worth, Texas) – Weatherford College
Emily SantiAnna (Florence, S.C.) – Clemson University
Curtis Smith (Deerfield, Fla.) – Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Jered Smith (Magee, Miss.) – Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Mariah Standifer (St. Louis, Mo.) – Lindenwood University
Maura Taylor (Grandview, Mo.) – North Carolina A&T State University
Anna Wilkes (Pelham, Ala.) – University of Alabama at Birmingham
The Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest has awarded over $1 million in educational assistance to more than 350 students over the past 11 years.