University of Redlands
The Hunsaker Scholarship Prize is awarded annually to a select number of exceptional incoming students from diverse backgrounds. The highly competitive award meets each recipient’s full demonstrated financial need for all four years at Redlands. Alumni couple Richard and Virginia Hunsaker, class of 1952, established the scholarship in 2014 with their transformational gift of $35 million.
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
High School: Bishop Blanchet
Antonio Andres has always made the most of any opportunity that comes his way. In high school, Antonio was senior cabinet vice president and Kairos retreat leader and served as team captain of his club soccer team. As a member of Bishop Blanchet varsity cross country, he won the league championship for the first time since 2004, won the district championship and took third place in state. Outside of school, Antonio spent his summers at the Skagit Valley Youth Migrant Project, where he took care of children whose parents were working in local fields.
Hometown: Arcadia, California
High School: Arcadia High School
Anna Chung is passionate about the health of her community. As a volunteer with the Vietnam Tooth Project, Anna worked to help improve the oral health of over 900 Vietnamese children. This experience with the Vietnam Tooth Project inspired her to become a volunteer with Ayuda Clinics, a non-profit organization that provides free dental care to underserved communities in California. Anna was also a leader of the Vietnam Initiative Project, which raised more than $500,000 in microfinance loans.
Hometown: Kamuela, Hawaii
High School: Parker School
Sean Dunnington is a leader on and off the stage. A thespian, Sean was a founding member of the Kahilu Theatre Youth Troupe, assistant director for his school’s theatre productions, founder and president of the Playwrights Guild, which provided students the opportunity to learn about playwriting and showcase their work in a 10-minute play festival, and was a founding member and vice-president of the International Thespian Society at Parker School in Kamuela, Hawaii. He served two terms as class president, three terms on Student Council, was captain of the varsity tennis team and founded his high school's Diversity Club, which provided an avenue for school and community members to celebrate diversity and equality.
Hometown: Austin, Texas
High School: Liberal Arts & Sciences High School
Willow Higgins is on a quest to improve gender equality within her community. Through her volunteer efforts with the Interfaith Action of Central Texas, Willow has tutored and mentored refugees, and over the past two years has worked closely with a young woman from Iraq. In addition to her volunteer work, Willow served as a teen board member for Circle of Health International, co-captain of her volleyball team, co-founder of the Young Democrats Club and founder of the Sand Volleyball Club.
Hometown: San Francisco, California
High School: San Domenico School
A first-generation college student, Daria Jackson spent her high school years excelling in and out of the classroom. Daria was co-captain of the basketball and volleyball teams at San Domenico School in San Anselmo, California, as well as a dorm prefect. She traveled to Bosnia one summer to help facilitate a multi-ethnic summer school program established by a faculty member of San Domenico, an experience that inspired her to become an active global citizen and led to her coordinating school-wide service projects with Oxfam Hunger Banquet and Kiva Loans.
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
High School: Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
When she was a child, Allie Kuroff saw some of her classmates, who spoke English as a second language, struggling with basic reading comprehension in school. Believing in the power of education to change the trajectory of a child’s life, she began directing Stewart Smarties, an afterschool-tutoring program designed to increase reading and language skills among first and second grade students. Allie also created her own online store that sells modernized vintage pieces. She was involved in work at her school as a peer advisor and Student Organized Service Board member and in her community as a volunteer at Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House and the Therapeutic Riding and Horsemanship Center.
Hometown: Buffalo Grove, Illinois
High School: Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Alexandra Laner has long been committed to service. She has served as a counselor at Camp Soar, a camp for children with severe disabilities, and interned at Clearbrook, where she was the activity director and job coach for adults with disabilities. Alexandra also was a leader at her high school, where she was instrumental in directing the freshman mentor program and was a dedicated member of the basketball team.
Hometown: Arcadia, California
High School: Arcadia High School
By the end of Joshua Liao's freshmen year at Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California, he had already conducted scientific research with faculty at USC and Pepperdine. His research led to co-authoring a paper and presenting his findings at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research. His passion for research continued with the opportunity to teach young students about energy conservation at the Los Angeles Environmental Education Fair. Joshua is also the founder of Healing Through Music, a program where volunteers perform music for patients around holidays to improve their morale.
Hometown: Long Beach, California
High School: Long Beach Poly High School
Iyana McGiffert thrived as a member of the Long Beach College Preparatory Academy and the Center for International Curriculum, passing nine Advanced Placement exams with an average score of 4. During her gap year, she founded Success for Less, a tutoring program in her local. Iyana’s interest in languages took her to Japan for a two-week trip through the Kizuna Project. Wanting to give another student the same opportunity, Iyana hosted a Japanese student during her junior year.
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
High School: Roosevelt High School
Charlotte Minor is passionate about the environment and providing a space for her peers to learn more about conservation. A natural leader, Charlotte founded her high school's Outdoors Club and Earth Corps team and participated in community service projects in Tanzania and Mexico, as well as with local Native American communities. In her senior year, Charlotte was also the captain of two athletic teams.
Hometown: Lake Forest, California
High School: Trabuco Hills High School
Having grown up with an autistic sibling, Aya has long been an advocate for autism awareness. She was instrumental in bringing Autism Speaks to her high school and was featured in the documentary Education in America for her project Autism Movement Therapy. After being accepted into the University of Chicago's Health Professionals Recruitment and Exposure Program, Aya was also able to participate in the University of Chicago's Training Early Achievers for Careers in Health (TEACH) Research. Aya's goal is to become a neurologist.
Hometown: El Cerrito, California
High School: Maybeck High School
As she starts on her journey at the University of Redlands, Shapari Samimi is leaving behind a lasting legacy in Berkeley, California. While at Maybeck High School, Shapari served as a school ambassador for four years, led a team of peer advisors and provided consistent support to administrators and students. She also worked at a Montessori school as an assistant teacher, where she prepared lessons and guided art workshops.
Hometown: Talent, Oregon
High School: Ashland High School
A dynamic student-athlete, Sabrina Scoggin was an all-conference and all-state water polo player while attending Ashland High School in Talent, Oregon, and was voted most valuable player of her conference. Sabrina earned these accolades while also leading the Key Club, tutoring younger classmates in math, participating in Relay for Life, working with Special Olympics, performing onstage with the school band and managing the student budget. During her junior year, Sabrina visited Guanajuato, Mexico, as Ashland High School's official ambassador.
Hometown: Littleton, Colorado
High School: Chatfield High School
Charitable by nature, Summer Stafford has raised thousands of dollars for causes close to her heart. While a junior in high school, Summer created Headbands for a Cure, which raised $1,200 for the American Cancer Society. She also assisted with Relay for Life, bringing in $1,200 for cancer research. An All-American lacrosse player, Summer served as team captain for the lacrosse team and was president of her high school's senior class and chapter of the National Honor Society. She has been recognized as a National Merit Commended Scholar, and was ranked first in her class.
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
High School: St. Mary's Academy
An intuitive leader, Lidya Stamper has been steadfast in her commitment to projects around Portland, Oregon. While attending St. Mary's Academy, Lidya was involved with Students Today Leaders Forever and The Portland Plunge, a weeklong retreat for high school students to learn about poverty and homelessness. She is passionate about social justice issues and understanding the connections and contrasts between different communities, and feels her experience with Portland Plunge gave her a platform to be a voice for the underrepresented.
Hometown: San Rafael and Fairfax, California
High School: San Domenico Upper School
Erin Wiens St. John is committed to helping others through relationship-centered leadership. The highlight of her high school years was serving her cathedral community as Official Youth Presence, Deanery Delegate and the youngest female altar server in cathedral history. At school, she and her fellow theater arts students took “Argonautika” to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A National Merit Scholar, Erin also volunteered as a member of the Marin County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team and served food to 450 low-income families through the Lift/Levántate organization the summer before her senior year. In high school, she performed leading roles in “Swan Lake,” “Ondine” and “Cinderella.”
