Navy Federal Credit Union, in collaboration with ESPN, announced today the inaugural 2018 ROTC All-American Team Scholarship Program. As part of the program, 10 participating ROTC programs will nominate one senior as the nation's Student of the Year. The winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship, to be announced live on ESPN December 31 at the Military Bowl.
Students will be chosen from a variety of ROTC programs, such as Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and University of Texas – Austin. A judging panel comprised of ESPN’s Sage Steele and two Navy Federal representatives will select the Student of the Year. The scholarship winner will exemplify the pillars of the ROTC program: Leadership, Military Excellence, Scholarship and Service.
“As a graduate of Army ROTC, I understand the hard work these students do while in and out of the classroom each day,” said Matt Lawson, vice president of branch operations at Navy Federal and one of the panel judges. “We at Navy Federal recognize their dedication to service by awarding scholarships to these students.”
In addition to the Student of the Year scholarship, each student nominated will be awarded a scholarship, and their respective ROTC programs will each receive a program enrichment donation, including the Student of the Year’s ROTC program.
“As the daughter of an Army veteran and someone that has firsthand experience with military life, I understand how important scholarships like these are to our future officers,” said Sage Steele, ESPN SportsCenter Host. “I am beyond honored to help show college football fans some of the great things our ROTC students are doing throughout the nation.”
In addition to the scholarship program, Navy Federal is sponsoring numerous regular season college football games, as well as the ACC Championship, Armed Forces Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Military Bowl, Hawaii Bowl and Independence Bowl. A feature story with Sage Steele and her father Colonel Gary Steele, a former West Point football player, will also air during the weeks leading up to Veteran’s Day, highlighting his life and lessons learned from his time in the military.