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by Michael larsen
Starting fall of 2022, NS seniors will have the opportunity to apply for the Dr. Emmitt and Verda Rees Bohne scholarship, a full-ride scholarship to the University of Utah, each year. The scholarship will be given in preference to NS students and/or students who plan to pursue a career in education.
The scholarship is funded by a $1,000,000 endowment from the Bohne/Bye Trust, a family trust administered by married couple David Bonhe and Thomas Bye. Students will be selected by University of Utah admissions, and are required to maintain at least a 3.6-grade point average to continue to receive funds while attending the University.
“I’d like to see students that wouldn’t have the opportunity or wouldn’t ordinarily to go to the University of Utah,” Bohne said, “which has really become an excellent university, nationally, a respected university in my lifetime, that they, coming from a–I don’t want to use the word depressed–but less affluent area, that they would have the opportunity to have a first-rate university education. It would give them the opportunity to do whatever they want in their lives.”
Because it is a perpetual endowment and because of the large initial principal, the scholarship should last for several decades, allowing hundreds of students from NS to have the opportunity to attend a four-year university. Recipients will be chosen directly by University of Utah admissions.
“The University admissions office has conducted a study on enrollment for the benefit of us,” Bohne said, “The study reveals that every year several North Sanpete students apply and are accepted at the U. However, the study also reveals that on average only two, or sometimes three, students actually matriculate. The primary reason given by students who are accepted but do not enroll is lack of funds. Although some of these students have been offered partial scholarships, they simply cannot afford housing and other expenses. For this reason, we determined that each scholarship should cover all tuition and housing for the academic year.”
The scholarship is named after the parents of Bohne; Emmitt and Verda Rees Bohne. Bohne was inspired by his father’s effort in college and his effort in teaching him the importance of hard work and getting a good education.
“My father graduated in 1920 and was the only student to attend the University of Utah from his class,” Bohne said.
“He had saved his money as a teenager by working on his uncle’s dry farm and, with financial help from the University, he had the money to make the move to Salt Lake City. After just one year he had qualified for a teaching credential, and he returned to Sanpete, where he was made principal of Chester school.
Emmit enjoyed working as a high school principal and started saving to go back to school. Emmit met Verda Rees while at Chester, as she was one of the three teachers at the high school. After they married, Emmit went back to the University of Utah to pursue a career in school administration.
Bonhe and Bye chose the University of Utah for their endowment because of the connection that Bonhe made with his father and the university when he was younger.
Bohne and his family would make the long car rides to Sanpete to see their family. Bohne explained how he saw that his father worked hard enough to attend the University of Utah and that his parents cared much for Sanpete. Bohne wishes to help students at NS achieve their academic goals as his father did and hopes his heritage will be remembered through the Dr. Emmitt and Verda Rees Bohne scholarship.
“As with any student who is awarded scholarships,” said NS counselor, Jon Hafen, “it is a great opportunity to further one’s education while lessening some of the burden from financial strains that can come when working on a post-secondary degree. We are so very grateful for David Bohne’s generosity. This scholarship will most certainly bless the lives of future students from North Sanpete.”
