Office of Public Affairs

(315) 312-2265


Oct. 17, 2003


CONTACT: Michele Reed, 312-5489


MEXICO GRADUATE EARNS FIRST TAYLOR SCHOLARSHIP

    OSWEGO -- The Barry Taylor Memorial Scholarship has been awarded to Melissa M. Sierson of Route 11 in Mexico, a freshman at SUNY Oswego.

    A 2002 graduate of Mexico Academy and Central School, Sierson studied in Germany for the 2002-03 academic year under an American Field Service scholarship. At Oswego, she is majoring in childhood education with a concentration in German.

    Barry Taylor, who attended SUNY Oswego, passed away in 1993. His parents, John and Dorothy Woodland Taylor, who graduated from Oswego in 1959, and their son Brian and his wife established the Barry Taylor Memorial Scholarship.

    Through fund-raisers and individual giving, they endowed a scholarship for a Mexico High School graduate to attend SUNY Oswego. This year is the first time the scholarship is being awarded.

    Barry Taylor loved sports, especially the Dallas Cowboys, and music. He was always eager to go to the baseball games of the younger kids or to head off to a Grateful Dead concert with his friends.

    Dorothy, along with Barry's father, other family members and friends, feels the most significant way to celebrate her late son's life is by ensuring that each year a deserving young person will have a chance for an Oswego education as a gift from Barry Taylor.

    "Barry would be pretty happy with this," his mother said. "His whole life was focused on helping others, and he'd feel good to know we are awarding a scholarship in his name."

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Melissa M. Sierson earns first Barry Taylor Memorial Scholarship

TAYLOR SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT -- Melissa M. Sierson of Mexico, center, a freshman at SUNY Oswego, is the first recipient of the Barry Taylor Memorial Scholarship. Presenting the scholarship are John and Dorothy Taylor, parents of the late Barry Taylor, who passed away in 1993.



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