Municipal Credit Union Awards $71,000 in Scholarships

NEW YORK CITY -- MCU has awarded $71,000 in scholarships to college-bound graduating high school seniors: nine memorial scholarship grants of $5,000 each and 13 grants of $2,000 each. MCU Board Chair James Durrah and Acting President/CEO Norman Kohn presented the scholarships to the recipients at a special reception at MCU’s headquarters on May 23.

The recipients of the $5,000 memorial scholarships are Nicholas Chin, Kaitlin Connelly, Ashley Fils-Aime, Jeffrey Li, Grace McGrath, Brendan O’Sullivan, Jared Rios, Maxine Smith, and Joseph Vayalymkal. 

“We are recognizing a truly great group of students this year. I am very proud to recognize them for what they have accomplished so far and know they will go far in their educational and professional endeavors. I am pleased to know that our members’ contribution to their education will be remembered and celebrated by these scholars and their extended families," said MCU Board Chair James Durrah. 

Scholarship winners were selected based on academic performance, extracurricular activities, community service and involvement, letters of recommendation, and an essay expressing personal goals. 2018 marked the first year MCU offered a memorial scholarship in recognition of the late Board member Thomas Diana. The $5,000 Thomas Diana Memorial Scholarship became MCU's ninth memorial scholarship and will be offered annually. The MCU scholarships are part of the credit union's long-standing, larger corporate commitment to youth education across the greater New York City area.

“We are proud that our scholarship program is able to help such deserving young people from our area continue their education and begin to achieve their long-term personal and professional goals. We wish them all continued success," said Acting President/CEO Norman Kohn.

Municipal Credit Union is the oldest credit union in New York State and one of the oldest and largest in the country. Established in 1916 and headquartered in New York City, today MCU has assets of more than $2.6 billion and offers a full range of financial services to its more than 425,000 members. MCU is an equal opportunity lender, and deposits are federally insured to at least $250,000 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. government agency. For more information about Municipal Credit Union, visit www.nymcu.org.

Photo Caption: (from left to right) Winners of the 2018 MCU Memorial Scholarship Program Grace McGrath, Ashley Fils-Aime, Brendan O’Sullivan, Maxine Smith, Jared Rios, Kaitlin Connelly, Nicholas Chin, and Jeffrey Li attend a special reception held at the MCU Corporate Office on May 23, 2018. This year, Municipal Credit Union awarded a total of $71,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors.