2025 Lilly Scholars Announced
2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Recipients from Delaware County Announced
Zachary Baty
The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Delaware County – Zachary Baty from Delta High School and Josephine Burton from Burris Laboratory High School. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
“Finalists for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship in Delaware County must show great leadership potential, be well-rounded in their involvement, and exhibit community-mindedness,” said Marcy Minton, president and CEO of The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County. “Zachary Baty and Josephine Burton were selected because of their leadership and service to their school community and the larger community. They will represent Muncie and Delaware County as Lilly Scholars and carry that honor with them for the rest of their lives.”
Zachary Baty plans to study neuroscience or biology. He is the son of Monica and Eric Baty.
Josephine Burton plans to study biology. She is the daughter of Jacqueline and Aaron Burton.
Josephine Burton
Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years. The scholarship is for full-time undergraduate students leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects both current scholars and alumni with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. Both the scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and Indiana Humanities.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship in Muncie and Delaware County awards students who possess leadership potential and are well-rounded and community-minded. After the field of applicants was narrowed down, nominees were submitted to ICI, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, which approves the final selection of scholarship recipients.
Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1997-98 school year. Since then, grant funding in excess of $490 million has supported more than 5,300 Indiana students who have received scholarships through the program.
The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
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The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County has been serving the local community since 1985, supporting philanthropy, assisting donors in building a permanent source of charitable assets, and investing in initiatives that enhance the quality of life in Muncie and Delaware County. With an endowment of over $93 million, the Foundation has distributed nearly $68 million in grants and scholarships to date.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana
Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates.