Bryant Lewis, a senior at Olathe East High School, has been named the 2019 Linwood Sexton Scholar at Wichita State.
Lewis will receive a full ride to attend WSU as a business management major starting
this fall.
At his high school, Lewis is enrolled in a rigorous college-prep program, Advancement
Via Individual Determination (AVID), taking numerous honors and AP courses.
He’s a first-stand violist in the Olathe East Orchestra, an honor he has held since his freshman year. He is also a student ambassador and is involved in the Hawk Leaders program, helping students successfully transition into his high school from middle school.
Outside of class, Lewis works 30 hours a week as an assistant manager at the AMC Theater after earning multiple promotions based on his performance.
“Bryant is outspoken, honest, loyal, carrying and oh so witty,” said Jennifer Rippee, an English and AVID teacher at Olathe East. “I look forward to him coming back to my classroom as a mentor, speaking to students who can benefit from his experiences and knowledge.”
The Linwood Sexton Scholarship was established in 2000 to honor its namesake, Linwood
Sexton.
Sexton, a Wichita State legend in football, was a member of the Shocker Sports Hall
of Fame and Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. A tireless advocate for equal opportunity
and social justice, he was honored with many awards for his efforts to promote understanding
and respect among people of different racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Linwood Sexton passed away at the age of 90 in 2017, but his legacy lives on in the recipients of the Sexton Scholarship.
The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wichitastate and Facebook at www.facebook.com/wichita.state.