NATCHITOCHES – Friends, colleagues and former students established a scholarship to honor a retired professor from the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University. Dr. Holly Stave, a long-time professor of English, had a profound influence on many of her students as a professor, mentor and friend.

“I could not image a better legacy,” Stave said during a scholarship announcement, noting that she personally benefitted from scholarships as an undergraduate. “So many of my really brilliant students didn’t come from families that could support their education.  I hope the principal continues to grow so that students benefit more. I’m really happy.”

Stave joined the Louisiana Scholars’ College faculty in 1998. She is a noted scholar of American writer Toni Morrison and was active in publishing and presenting articles on Morrison, exploring the feminist, religious and spiritual implications of Morrison’s work.  At NSU, she was a recipient of the Dr. Jean D’Amato-Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes a senior faculty member whose career has included a significant commitment to research and service to their disciplines. She also received the Mildred Hart Bailey Research Award and the Excellence in Teaching Award.  Stave has written, edited or co-edited several books and articles in leading professional journals and actively presented work at conferences and symposiums around the world.

Lauren Michel, a Scholars’ 2009 alum, initiated the scholarship to honor Stave for the positive influence she had on students, both as a person and a professor.

“I’m glad I could help honor Holly.  All of us are became different people when we finished Scholars’ because of Holly,” she said.

Donors raised more than $11,000 to endow the scholarship that will be presented to a Louisiana Scholars’ College student.

“When you establish a scholarship for Dr. Holly Stave, people come forward,” said Drake Owens, executive director of the NSU Foundation.

“Of all the places I taught, I never had the quality of students I had with Scholars’,” Stave said.

The Louisiana Scholars’ College at NSU is a selective-admission honors college of the liberal arts and sciences.  Information on the Louisiana Scholars’ College is available at https://www.nsula.edu/scholars/.

To contribute to the Stave scholarship fund, visit https://northwesternstatealumni.com/stave-scholarship/.