Young women of St. John who are enrolled in college or who plan to attend this fall are invited to apply for a Ruby Rutnik Scholarship.
The scholarships of up to $5,000 are awarded to qualified female students in honor of Ruby Rutnik, a senior at American University who died in a car accident in 1996. In 1997, an annual softball tournament was organized for female high school students throughout the Virgin Islands as a way to fund the scholarship.
In 2014, the Rutnik family decided to end the tournaments and use the funds already raised to establish an endowment through the Gifft Hill School on St. John. This arrangement was especially appropriate as Ruby was one of the original preschool students when the school was founded as the Pine Peace School in 1978.
The goal of the scholarship is to ease the burden of paying for higher education, especially for those attending colleges and universities off-island. Since its inception, the fund has awarded a total of $200,000 to more than three dozen recipients.
Applications may be obtained from school counselors or by sending an email to Janet Cook-Rutnik at cookrutnik@gmail.com, or by contacting the Rutniks at 693-8069.
The deadline for submission is May 1. Notice will be given on or before May 14.
Those wishing to contribute to the scholarship fund are asked to make their checks payable to Gifft Hill School, noting RRSF on the bottom of the check, and send it by mail to: GHS, 5000 Estate Enighed No. 356, St. John, VI 00830.
