The 70 for 70 and Vax Up Titans scholarship winners were recently announced as of Nov. 16, and recipients are excited and grateful for their awards.

“This scholarship was a huge surprise to me,” freshman Dylan Ruebl from Brillion said. “It has allowed me to pay off the rest of my semester and have some extra for next semester.”

He recalls receiving the email about winning one of the $7,000 scholarships through the 70 for 70 UW System program.

“When I first saw the email saying I won, I had just woken up and I jumped out of bed and started freaking out and called my grandma right away and basically geeked out to her for over an hour,” Ruebl said.

Reubl mentioned he talked to his grandma two days before winning, saying how concerned he was about being able to pay off the rest of the semester.

“[Winning the scholarship] lifted a huge weight off my shoulders,” Reubl said.

After UW Oshkosh students reached a vaccination rate of 70%, fully vaccinated students at all three UWO campuses were eligible to receive one of eight $7,000 scholarships. This was a UW System initiative to encourage vaccinations throughout UW campuses.

Eleven of the 12 participating schools reached 70% vaccination amongst students.

“I believe in encouraging, rather than mandating vaccines, and the scholarship incentive was a great motivator,” UW System President Tommy Thompson said.

UWO also offered scholarships and incentives of its own, including two MacBooks and University Bookstore gift cards in the spring 2021 semester as well as 10 $1,000 scholarships which were announced at the same time as the 70 for 70 scholarship winners this month.

“I never thought in a million years that I would be one of the people chosen to receive this scholarship, so when I received the notification I was so shocked and thought it was fake at first,” senior Britney Woolever from Schofield.

Woolever plans to use her Vax Up Titans scholarship towards next semester’s tuition. She commented on why she decided to get vaccinated.

“The reason for getting the vaccine was because of my grandparents,” Woolever said. “Family is really important to me. I see my grandparents a lot and didn’t want to get them sick.”

“If you haven’t been vaccinated, do so today,” Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said in an email when UWO reached the 70% mark. “This is just one more example of the caring, compassionate community that is UWO.”

The full list of 70 for 70 and Vax Up Titans scholarship recipients can be found on UW Oshkosh Today page.