Katie Kuykendall, WV Scholarship Recipient

Feb 19, 2025

By Cindy Baugher

It is easy to see why Katie Kuykendall, who was recently named a West Virginia Division Scholarship recipient, was selected for the honor. She finished her high school years with an impressive 4.4 cumulative GPA and extracurriculars such as National Honor Society, student council member, and West Virginia Theater East member to her credit. She also was able to work as an intern at a local optometry practice during her senior year.

Katie has proven to be just as busy and well-rounded in her college experience as well. She has maintained a GPA of 3.949 while also interning at a lumber products business and participating in the honors’ program. She was named the 2022-23 outstanding student at Potomac State College and was awarded the John Philip Spoerl scholarship for her dedication and hard work in her business classes. She volunteered to assist with a bilingual reading project to increase literacy in elementary-aged children and volunteers her time with her church.

Katie and her family at her graduation from Potomac State College

Now, as a student at West Virginia University, Katie has accepted a role with the West Virginia University Foundation where she works closely with various university departments on fundraising. She also works part time as a sales associate in a retail store, even while taking a very full load of seven courses this semester.

And that’s not all her involvement at WVU. Katie explained, “I was also lucky enough to be selected by the Communication Department to serve as a McConnell Chair COMMbassador for the 2024-2025 academic year. This is an unpaid position. COMMbassadors serve as a point of contact for prospective and current students, parents, department faculty and graduate students, and the WVU community at large. This semester I was also inducted into the Lambda Pi Eta Honors Society, (which is) the national undergraduate honor society for communication studies majors. I am a part of the American Marketing Associates chapter at WVU, as well as a member of the Undergraduate Communication Association.”

Katie serving in her role as COMMbassador at “Discover Day” for The Communication Studies Department

Katie is majoring in promotional marketing and organizational communication. She’s always known that she wanted to be involved in the business world, since she enjoys discovering creative solutions to trivial problems and diving deeply into the projects with which she’s involved. And, she’s also eager to travel and explore all options available to her. Because of her deep love for reading and its power to expand people’s lives, she initially thought she’d work with the marketing aspect of the publishing industry. However, she’s now looking beyond that field and exploring different career options. As a consequence of her coursework exposure to various business roles, she’s found a fascination with all of the hats to be worn in the corporate world.

Katie has high praise for her parents in shaping her into the person she is today. Her mother instilled in her the love of reading that has molded her in so many ways. Of her mom she said, “She has always been supportive of my dreams and has done everything she could to help me succeed.” Her father, a Police Sergeant with West Virginia National Resources and a 25-year veteran law enforcement officer, imparted on Katie the value of honesty, diligence, and hard work. She calls him her protector, going on to say, “He is the protector of me, the community, and of the wildlife.”

Kaite and her Dad

A favorite movie of Katie’s is the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. She especially relates to the main character in the novel and movie, Elizabeth Bennet. She admires Elizabeth’s ability to stand up for herself and finds her demonstration of self-worth and her challenge of societal expectations to be “incredibly empowering”. The movie is also the source of Katie’s favorite quote, from the Elizabeth Bennet character, which seems to mirror Katie’s own determination to succeed: “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”

Being awarded this scholarship is an honor that Katie is excited and grateful for. She currently has two courses she must complete over the summer term in order to graduate; courses that she must pay for out of pocket. But now that she’s earned the scholarship, she’s been relieved of some of the stress she’d had about paying for those classes.

On earning the scholarship, she stated, “I am sincerely honored to have been selected as a recipient of the Police Benevolent Foundation Scholarship. I would like to thank the foundation for its gracious generosity, which is aiding me to thrive successfully in my academia endeavors. I am overwhelmingly ecstatic to accept this amazing award.”