Bailey Scholarship Program

When Fred S. Bailey, president of the Champaign National Bank, died in 1955, he left two-thirds of the income of his estate to the University YMCA, to be given as scholarships to "worthy moral students" at the University of Illinois, chosen for their character, intelligence, leadership and scholarship. The Y made its first Bailey Scholarships in the spring of 1957 and has made them every year since. Under directors Hal Colvin, Ed Nestingen and David Eisenman it became, above all, a source of financial aid, with more than a hundred awards a year.

In 2009 the Y's Board turned the program back toward its founding purpose. Since then Bailey Scholars have been chosen by volunteer readers for their service and leadership as well as need, and they meet for workshops and an annual ceremony. A 2011 court order converted the Bailey trust to a total-return trust, and the larger income paid for a graduate fellowship (2013) and awards for unpaid internships and service travel (2014). Today the program gives about $200,000 a year to some 45 students, and in all it has given more than $5.5 million to more than 3,100.