Full-tuition scholarship available to Avella Area High School seniors
While students at Bethany College in West Virginia, Avella couple Robert and Georgiana Riley fell in love not only with each other, but with the school as well.
“The thing that stuck with us was the cultural opportunities,” said Robert, who met Georgiana in 1970. “There were people from all over the world, the students and the staff. We never experienced anything like that growing up in steel towns. There were different thoughts, races and religions. It was a significant experience.”
To create a significant experience for another young person, the Rileys established the Georgiana and Robert F. Riley Jr. Scholarship, available to Avella Area High School seniors seeking to enroll in Bethany College next year.
The full-tuition scholarship will be awarded to a student who has attended all four years of high school at Avella and achieved a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5.
Avella is located about 12 miles from Bethany. There are 37 students in this year’s senior class.
“We’re very grateful as a district for Bob and Georgie to think of us,” said Avella Superintendent Cyril Walther. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to attend a private university for free and to highlight the work the students have done in high school.”
Robert worked as director of admissions at Bethany and later as an executive for Blue Cross Blue Shield of West Virginia. Georgiana was the owner, president and CEO of TIGG Corporation in Pittsburgh.
They moved to Avella in 1980.
“We wanted a nice place in the country with 10 acres. We ended up with 171 acres and an abandoned farmhouse,” said Robert.
The couple spent years reviving the house, which predates the Civil War. Foxfire Farm, with the Greek Revival-style home, is located along Route 844.
“It’s a transformative scholarship from an amazing family who loves this college and wants to elevate it,” said Dr. Tamara Nichols Rodenberg, president of Bethany. “It’s truly a generous gift to one of our incoming freshman, and we are grateful to the Riley family for this opportunity.”
To qualify for the scholarship, students must have applied to Bethany, been accepted to matriculate as a freshman beginning in September 2018, and must maintain a 2.5 grade point average through their four-year education at Bethany.
The annual average price of Bethany’s tuition is about $30,000.
Bethany College is now accepting applications for the scholarship. For more information, contact Bethany’s Office of Financial Aid at 304-829-7611 or enrollment@bethanywv.edu.