The Judith Helen Hager Endowed Memorial Scholarship
About the Judith Helen Hager Endowed Memorial Scholarship
The Judith Helen Hager Endowed Memorial Scholarship will provide merit-based scholarships for returning undergraduate students (at least 25 years of age who have earned at least 60 credits towards a bachelor’s degree) at the University of Maryland.
The selection process will be managed through the Returning Student Scholarship selection process in the Counseling Center with a preference for undergraduate students who are enrolled in the College of Arts and Humanities. Additional preference will be given to students studying creative writing.
About the Scholarship
The Judith Helen Hager Endowed Memorial Scholarship will provide merit-based scholarships for returning undergraduate students (at least 25 years of age who have earned at least 60 credits towards a bachelor’s degree) at the University of Maryland.
Judith Helen Hager (née Pommer) was born in 1938 in Park Ridge, Illinois. After graduating from Maine Township High School, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Rockford College in 1960, gaining distinction during her junior year abroad in Scotland as the first American woman to play on the University of Edinburgh women’s field hockey team. In June 1962, she earned her Master of Arts in Teaching, also at Rockford College, and began teaching high school English.
After spending several years at home corralling her four rambunctious children on the family’s 50-acre farm in Illinois, Judy returned again to the classroom in 1981, this time at Hononegah High School. There, her love of nature and her passionate environmentalism inspired Judy to found the school’s Illinois Rivers Project, a groundbreaking program that incorporated hands-on scientific research; historical, environmental, economic and geographic studies; creative and technical writing; and artistic interpretation to help students study all facets of Illinois’ Rock River. In 1994, for her work with the Rivers Project, Judy was named the Winnebago County Conservation Educator of the Year. After her 1994 “retirement” from teaching, Judy joined the Boone County Conservation District as their Education Coordinator and Camp Director, a role which allowed her to expand her work integrating conservation and environmental study into interdisciplinary learning experiences for children of all ages.
Although Judy passed away in 1996, her twin passions, education and conservation, left an indelible legacy of environmental activism, courage, kindness, and love that taught her students—and her family—to always consider the impact our lives have on others, and how we can work together to create a better world for all.
We Shall Meet Again
January 30, 1995Not once, but often,
Every time I see the waters of our land,
In every brook, every stream, every river
Shall we meet again.
In every mind and heart of young men and women,
With each lift of every hand to test, to proclaim, to mitigate,
Through every wide-eyed caring and sharing
Shall we meet again.
What you have set in motion
Will outlive us all…
Legacy appropriate to your sacrifice,
Endless, timeless inheritance.
Tears now mingle with our waters,
Cleansing, healing, nurturing,
But steadfast and determined like you,
The work and hope of it all goes on.
Not once, but often,
Every time I see the waters of our land,
In every brook, every stream, every river
Shall we meet again.- Judith Helen Hagar
Past Scholars
