Jan. 14—Brescia University has established a new scholarship in honor of David "Bart" Bartholomy, an English professor for the institution who died June 18, 2022.

Jake Davis, director of alumni and donor relations at Brescia, said Bartholomy taught at the university for around 40 years before retiring in 2016.

"He was a fixture of the campus community," Davis said. "He taught everyone from English majors, accounting majors and biology majors."

Davis said a group of alumni had reached out to the university about establishing a scholarship in memory of Bartholomy.

"Not one of them was an English major," Davis said. "They are social workers, lawyers, scientists. This is the kind of impact Bart always had."

The alumni are all former students of Bartholomy's.

"This is a great honor for David," said Bartholomy's widow, Suzi. "They talked about establishing a scholarship in David's name. It's great they were close to David for all these years."

Suzi said Bartholomy deserved the attention he received and that his whole life was about Brescia.

"He did so much there," she said. "From the literary magazine to the creative writing program and broadcasting."

Bartholomy also had a wide reach outside of the classroom.

"He was a coach for the golf team, including All-Americans," Davis said. "He helped run a local writers group and produced the literary journal 'Open 24 Hours,' which was composed of works from Brescia students and faculty, but was open to anyone."

Davis said this scholarship is a "wonderful testament" to an impact that is hard to measure over decades and thousands of students.

"To have something that will help future students understand the importance of writing in education shows that impact," he said.

In 2016, Brescia renamed its administration building to Bartholomy Taylor Hall, dedicating the building to Bartholomy and Sister Mary Diane Taylor. Davis said the duo have over 100 years of combined service to the university.

The scholarship will become available to students during the 2023-24 academic year. Students must be in good standing with the university, have a 2.5 cumulative GPA, have taken English 101 or an equivalent and write a short essay on the importance of writing for a college education.

Davis said the student will be selected by the English department faculty, but it will be open to any Brescia student.

Contributions in memory of Bartholomy may be made to the "David and Suzi Bartholomy Endowed Scholarship" by calling 270-686-2111.