August 21, 2001

Tracy Latest Recipient Of
Gibbs Scholarship

Bowling Green, Ky. - Barren County High School graduate Betsy Ann Tracy is the latest recipient of the Todd Gibbs Memorial Scholarship to Western Kentucky University.

The Western sophomore was awarded the renewable tuition scholarship this month after finishing as a finalist for the award last year. Tracy was active in various high school activities including the school newspaper, Beta Club, basketball, FFA, 4-H, band, softball and cross-country.

Tracy was named to the National Who's Who Among American High School Students and the Kentucky Teen Volunteer Hall of Fame, won various 4-H bronze, silver and gold awards, and captured numerous awards in state fair championship competition.
The Gibbs Memorial Scholarship was established five years ago through the University's Office of University Relations in memory of Western alumnus, Ernest "Todd" Gibbs of Scottsville.

The former national poster child for Cystic Fibrosis spent much of his life "beating the odds" of the disease as he was active in numerous high school, college, community and statewide activities and public service. Gibbs served on the Scottsville City Council and worked for seven years with WLCK radio in Scottsville before working in Western's Office of University Relations as a student in 1990 and continued working there following his graduation in May 1994. Gibbs also was a basketball referee and served as director of the Lady Invitational of the South girls' basketball tournament.

Gibbs died Oct. 13, 1995, at the age of 31, with complications from Cystic Fibrosis.

The scholarship is awarded to individuals planning to or currently attending Western who represent the attributes Gibbs exhibited. Other current recipients include William Starks of Scottsville and April Lash of Adairville.

For more information about the scholarship, contact Western's College Heights Foundation at (270) 745-4597 or Jeff Younglove, director of Special Events, at (270) 745-2497.

More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.