Regions Awards Record Number of Riding Forward Scholarships

Regions is proud to announce the winners of its annual Regions Riding Forward® Scholarship Contest. The contest, which entered its 11th year in 2022, honors Black History Month by encouraging young people to share the stories of Black Americans who inspire them.

This year’s contest featured a video essay category in addition to the traditional written essay. The addition of the video essay category doubled the potential number of scholarships awarded. High school and college winners were selected in each of the two entry categories. Winning high school seniors each received $5,000, and winning college students each received $3,500. In all, 55 winners were selected from more than 3,600 applications.

“The Riding Forward Scholarship Contest is an important way Regions celebrates Black History Month while also furthering educational opportunities for students,” said Abbas Merchant, head of Marketing for Regions Bank. “The passion of these students is seen in their writing and particularly in the video essays, and I hope you’ll be inspired by their messages as well.”

Winners of the contest are as follows and the full list, along with their winning written and video essays can also be found here

High School Winners and University/College to Be Attended:

Paul Aucremann (Clearwater, Fla.) – Florida State University

William Booker (Spartanburg, S.C.) – Harvard University

Robyn Cunningham (Atlanta, Ga.) – Georgia State University

Kani’ya Davis (Columbia, S.C.) – North Carolina A&T State University

Oluwatomi Dugbo (Chicago, Ill.) – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Lillian Goins (Conway, Ark.) – Wellesley College

Parker Hall (Lexington, Ky.) – Spelman College

Collin Hatfield (Indianapolis, Ind.) – Ball State University

Gabrielle Izu (Houston, Texas) – The University of Texas at Austin

Kylie Lauderdale (Tampa, Fla.) – University of Central Florida

Jacob Milan (Memphis, Tenn.) – The University of Texas at Dallas

Jackson Mitchell (Louisville, Ky.) – Eastern Kentucky University

Carmen Moore (Creedmoor, N.C.) – Averett University

Madison Morgan (Hornersville, Mo.) – University of Missouri-Columbia

Kaden Oquelí-White (New Orleans, La.) – Columbia University

Kaylin Parks (Waxhaw, N.C.) – North Carolina A&T State University

Brian Perryman (McCalla, Ala.) – The University of Alabama

De’Marco Riggins – (Port Gibson, Miss.) – Alcorn State University

Brianna Roundtree (Zionsville, Ind.) – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sydney Russell (Chicago, Ill.) – Winston-Salem State University

Carlie Spore (Dysart, Iowa) – Iowa State University

Morgan Standifer (St. Louis, Mo.) – Tennessee State University

Ionia Thomas (Little Rock, Ark.) – University of Central Arkansas

Ramaya Thomas (Atlanta, Ga.) – Tennessee State University

Jaylen Toran (Nashville, Tenn.) – University of Memphis

Amani Veals (Baton Rouge, La.) – University of New Orleans

Taylor Williams (Houston, Texas) – Stephen F Austin State University

Alana Wilson (Union Church, Miss.) – Copiah-Lincoln Community College

Taryn Wilson (Pelham, Ala.) – New York University

College Winners and Their College/University:

Aryaunna Armstrong (Salisbury, N.C.) – North Carolina A&T State University

Hannah Blackwell (Memphis, Tenn.) – Louisiana State University

T’Aneka Bowers (Houston, Texas) – Dillard University

Naomi Bradley (Acworth, Ga.) – Mercer University

Arianna Cannon (San Antonio, Tex.) – Texas Tech University

Taylor Cline (Swisher, Iowa) – University of Iowa

Catherine Cummings (Kansas City, Mo.) – University of Missouri-Columbia

Margaret Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo.) – University of Arkansas

Chloe Franklin (Great Lakes, Ill.) – Lake Forest College

Camryn Gaines (Ocean Springs, Miss.) – University of South Alabama

Thomas Greer (Nashville, Tenn.) – Baylor University

Kayla Helleson (Huntsville, Ala.) – Auburn University

Veronica Holmes (Memphis, Tenn.) – Fisk University

Paris King (Tallahassee, Fla.) – Mississippi State University

Logan Kurtz (Fort Wayne, Ind.) – Manchester University

Samuel Lambert (Paducah, Ky.) – University of Kentucky

Jaylon Muchison (Swansea , Ill.) – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Teresa Odom (Tifton, Ga.) – Thomas University

Andrew Payne (Bloomington, Ind.)- Indiana University-Bloomington

Carey Price – (Fort Worth, Texas) – Weatherford College

Emily SantiAnna (Florence, S.C.) – Clemson University

Curtis Smith (Deerfield, Fla.) – Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Jered Smith (Magee, Miss.) – Copiah-Lincoln Community College

Mariah Standifer (St. Louis, Mo.) – Lindenwood University

Maura Taylor (Grandview, Mo.) – North Carolina A&T State University

Anna Wilkes (Pelham, Ala.) – University of Alabama at Birmingham

The Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest has awarded over $1 million in educational assistance to more than 350 students over the past 11 years.