Decatur County's 2025-26 Lilly Finalists Announced

The Decatur County Community Foundation has announced the finalists for Decatur County’s 2025/26 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.  

Decatur County had 60 students begin the competitive process in August by completing an online application and a controlled essay. The application and essay are anonymous--students are identified by numbers only.

The online application was reviewed by a six-member committee made up of representatives from various community organizations. Each applicant was scored on community involvement, school activities, and work experience. Students were also evaluated on academics. A second committee of two volunteers from outside the county scored the controlled essays.

Points were then averaged, and the top five students moved on to the finalist round. Those top scorers include Rori Phelps from South Decatur High School, and Mya Comer, Chloe Dick, Maddie Gould and Brenley Jameson from Greensburg Community High School.

These five students recently completed the last phase of the selection process. This round of judging was also anonymous and was scored by a third set of new evaluators. During this step, each finalist prepared an oral presentation on a topic of their choice. Students also answered a series of impromptu interview questions. 

Scores from all three rounds of evaluations are now sent to the Independent Colleges of Indiana to formally determine a winner. The top student will be named Decatur County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar and will receive full tuition to the Indiana school of choice, along with a $900 book stipend. The four remaining semi-finalists will receive a $5,000 DCCF Community Scholarship. This year, additional funding for the DCCF Community Scholarships is being contributed by Lynda Smith in memory of her late husband, William O. (Bill) Smith. Bill was an integral part in establishing the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship programming in Decatur County.

The Decatur County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient should be announced in December.

Left to right: Chloe Dick, Maddie Gould, Mya Comer, Rori Phelps, Brenley Jameson