What LEAD Really Means: More Than GPA, More Than Stats, More Than a Trophy
The Alice & Charles Taylor Scholar-Athlete LEAD Scholarship was created to recognize more than performance. Yes, achievement matters. But this scholarship is designed to honor the fuller picture of a student — who they are, how they lead, how they serve, and how they show up for others.
More Than Performance
Too often, scholarships are reduced to checklists: GPA, stats, awards, rankings. Those things can tell part of a story, but not the whole story.
A scholar-athlete is more than a transcript or a trophy case. A strong applicant is someone whose growth, effort, leadership, and integrity show up across multiple areas of life.
What LEAD Means in Practice
LEAD stands for Leadership, Educational Excellence, Athletic Achievement, and Distinguished Community Service. Those values are not meant to stay on paper. They are meant to show up in real life.
Leadership looks like setting the tone, encouraging others, and showing maturity when nobody is watching.
Educational Excellence looks like discipline, curiosity, and commitment to growth.
Athletic Achievement reflects hard work, perseverance, and team contribution.
Distinguished Community Service reminds us that impact is not only about what a student accomplishes for themselves, but also what they contribute to others.
What Adults Sometimes Miss About Scholar-Athletes
Scholar-athletes learn to manage pressure, juggle responsibilities, stay committed, and keep going through setbacks.
They learn how to be coachable, how to lead under stress, and how to represent something bigger than themselves. Those qualities matter deeply in college, careers, and community life.
The Kind of Story This Scholarship Wants to Tell
This scholarship is meant to celebrate students whose lives reflect more than individual success. It is meant to honor students whose character, consistency, and service point to the kind of leaders they are becoming.
That is why LEAD is about more than a moment of recognition. It is about investing in the future of students who will carry these values forward.
A strong applicant is not simply someone who has achieved. It is someone who has grown, served, led, and kept showing up. That is what LEAD is meant to recognize.
Explore the LEAD Scholarship
Learn more about the Alice & Charles Taylor Scholar-Athlete LEAD Scholarship and what it means to lead on and off the field.
Explore the Scholarship