**Update – as of noon Wednesday we are up to 402 Tillman Military Scholar applications!**
With just the first part of our Tillman Military Scholarship application process open at 10:00 am this morning, major change is in the air for the Pat Tillman Foundation (PTF)…
On our very first day, we have received 221 applications from veterans and their families who have been waiting for months for the opportunity to submit their stories, their dreams, and their hopes for how a higher education would make that happen for themselves, their families and their country.
To provide some perspective, in our inaugural year last year, we received 500 applications total in six weeks. In our pilot year, we were pleasantly surprised that there was enough need and awareness of the opportunity we were providing. Something tells me we will hit that 500 mark with several weeks still left to go in the process and that in fact, thousands of vets and family members will be waiting to learn if they will be accepted into our program.
If we had any question that our re-focused mission for PTF – investing in veterans and their families through education and community was filling a need within the military community and our country as a whole, we received our answer today.
Inspired and humbled by the stories of our current Scholars and the demonstrated need within the veterans community, in the coming years PTF aspires to create an innovative new institution that accomplishes the following:
- Create a brand new community of veterans committed to academic success and a continuation of service to country.
- Change existing perceptions of veterans and military families.
- Arm our Tillman Military Scholars with the greatest education possible and a world-class leadership experience that unleashes their power and possibility to transform our country.
- Celebrate military service as the greatest leadership experience possible and the crucible for young people going on to do something great with their lives.
It is such an exciting time for PTF as we set our course for the future by doing everything necessary to ensure that so many more of the thousands wanting to enter our community get the opportunity.
Every one of these ambitious goals is grounded in the legacy of the man whose name is on our door.
What Pat Tillman represents to those who knew him well are the very same values and characters that he represents to all of us: believe in something bigger than yourself…we are stronger together than we are alone.
