Featured Scholarship

Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship

When college dreams seem unreachable because of personal hardship, traditional scholarships may not apply. The Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship Program aims to fill that gap by helping students who show strength through adversity to realize their college goals.

Erin Tierney Kramp drew national attention in 1994 by turning a terminal breast cancer diagnosis at age 33 into a courageous personal journey. Fighting her disease with grace and humor, she pursued alternative medical treatments with a tenacity that sometimes frustrated the medical community but touched countless lives.

She garnered national attention with appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “20/20,” and on James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” radio program. She co-authored “Living with the End in Mind” with her husband and a friend. Before her death at age 36 in 1998, she had created a videotaped legacy of “life lessons” and wrapped gifts for her young daughter, Peyton, for the coming years that they wouldn’t be able to share.

The Dallas/Ft. Worth Private Equity Forum created the Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Foundation in 1997 to honor Erin, who was a venture capital investor. In 1999, a permanent scholarship endowment with the DCCCD Foundation was created with the help of Michael Brown, a friend and colleague of Erin’s.

“The Erin Tierney Kramp program awards scholarships to students based on their courage and perseverance in the face of adversity,” said Brown, president of the Erin Tierney Kramp Foundation, which funds the scholarship and selects recipients. Brown also serves on the DCCCD Foundation Board.

Kramp scholarship recipients must demonstrate success in overcoming obstacles other than financial ones, and have a minimum 3.0 GPA. Awardees may attend any of the DCCCD’s seven colleges.

The yearly deadline to apply is the first Friday in April. To apply see the Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship requirements.

Watch the Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship Video (Requires Windows Media Player)