Ella Tucker, senior at Epic Charter Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been awarded the 2022 Wichita State University Clay Barton Scholarship. She will receive $12,500 a year for four years to attend Wichita State. The $50,000 Barton Scholarship is one of the largest business scholarships in Kansas.

To become the Barton Scholar, Tucker not only had to be an exemplary student but also compete in a rigorous set of challenges at WSU including speeches, activities and group exercises. After multiple rounds, she was selected as the finalist.

“Ella is a hardworking, kind and intuitive person who impressed us all over the course of the competition,” shared Dr. Larisa Genin, dean of the Barton School of Business at WSU. “We are honored to have her as our next Barton Scholar. I can’t wait to see the impact she will make on our school, university and community during and after college.”

Tucker has worked her way up from barista to team lead for a local coffee company in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She is the oldest of five and likes sneaking away to a quiet corner of her family’s home every chance she gets to read. While attending Wichita State, Tucker plans to study management and begin classes in fall 2022.

The History and importance of the Barton Scholarship

In 1991, the late Rent-A-Center co-founder and chairman emeritus W. Frank Barton, who provided the naming endowment for Wichita State’s Barton School of Business, established a scholarship in his son Clay’s name.

Clay Barton died from cancer in 1988 at the age of 20, cutting his promising life short. While the Clay Barton Scholarship does not replace Clay’s presence, it is a powerful legacy.

This legacy speaks to the richness of the Barton tradition at Wichita State. Barton Scholars are expected to be the best of the best, excelling in academics, leadership, and service, fitting the pieces of their lives intricately into a structure that has lasting value.