Our Sister Scholarship: The Mary John Goree Scholarship at Princeton University

Since 1962, the Mary John Goree Scholarship has provided scholarships to Las Animas County residents for graduate and undergraduate study at Princeton University. With the support of the Goree Scholarship, 309 Las Animas County students have received degrees from Princeton. One student, Sally Jane Ruybalid, who received her A.B. from Princeton in 2022, will begin work on a master’s degree in architecture at Princeton in the fall of 2022.

The fund was established by William M. John, Princeton Class of 1910, in memory of his sister. Most students at Princeton in those days were from the East Coast; in fact, Mr. John was one of only six freshmen from west of the Mississippi.

Las Animas County residents who are accepted as students by Princeton University through the University’s regular graduate or undergraduate admissions process are automatically awarded a full tuition and fees scholarship from the Goree Scholarship Fund. This scholarship is renewed each year.

Any Las Animas County resident who is admitted to Princeton may also be awarded additional Goree Scholarship funds for room, board, traveling, and other personal expenses under the normal policies and practices of Princeton’s Financial Aid Office. Financial need may be considered in awarding these additional funds.

Students interested in more information can go to Princeton Admissions and Aid.  They can also contact David Vandermeulen, a member of the Mary John Goree Princeton Scholarship Advisory Board, at dvandermeulen@sprynet.com.  If students let Mr. Vandermeulen know of their interest, he would be pleased to email them with advance notice of public meetings on the Scholarship held in Las Animas County as well as opportunities for seniors to have an interview with a member of the Mary John Goree Princeton Scholarship Advisory Board.