by Bethel University
MCKENZIE, Tenn. March 8, 2021 –
The Bethel University Undergraduate Admissions Office has announced the winners of the prestigious Hendrix Scholarship.
Andrew Welch from Clarksville, a student at Rossview High School, is the winner of the 2021 Hendrix Scholarship Competition. He will receive full tuition, room and board at Bethel University valued at over $100,000. Welch is the son of James and Karan Welch and attends Mount View Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Dover. While at Bethel, he will major in Biology (Pre-Professional Health) and play football.
“Winning the Hendrix Scholarship allows me to focus on my education and developing myself,” said Welch. “It also allows me to be a part of the diverse and welcoming community at Bethel, which I am very excited to be a part of. It also allows me to pursue my dreams of being a student-athlete by continuing my athletic career in college.”
Riverside High School senior and Decaturville resident Mackenzie Harden was named the Hendrix Scholarship Runner-up. Harden received a full-tuition scholarship to attend Bethel valued at over $70,000 The daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Harden, she attends First Baptist Church in Decaturville. Harden plans to major in Human Performance (Exercise Science- Clinical) and be a part of the Honors Program.
"It is such an honor to be named Runner Up for the Hendrix Scholarship, and knowing that those who judged the competition thought of me as one of the most worthy and promising students is an indescribable feeling," Harden said. “Winning truly helped me feel confident taking the step into the next chapter of my life, and I know Bethel University is where the Lord has planned for me to be next.”
The winners were chosen following a rigorous academic competition with 25 participants at the University on Feb. 27. “The Hendrix Scholarship Competition is a very exciting event here at Bethel. Our participants were accomplished students from four different states. We were honored to have them seeking the Hendrix Scholarship and Bethel as their University home,” Director of Admissions Tina Hodges said.
“We are thrilled to have Andrew as our 2021 Hendrix Scholarship Award winner,” Bethel President Dr. Walter Butler said. “Andrew encompasses the excellence that this award represents. We are honored to have him join us in fall 2021 at Bethel.”
Established in 1988, the Hendrix Scholarship Competition is named in honor of Nashville businessman Willard R. Hendrix, who dreamed of connecting qualified and dedicated faculty with outstanding and deserving students. As the grandson of former Bethel University President W.W. Hendrix, the younger Hendrix also wanted to pay tribute to his grandfather, an outstanding educator who reopened the school on a new McKenzie, Tennessee campus after the Civil War. Willard Hendrix established the trust just two months before his death in August 1988. Worthy students have competed for—and benefitted from—the prestigious award ever since.