May 12, 2025

NATCHITOCHES – Jesci Lord Marchand of Ball is the 2025 recipient of the Lauren Vaughn Memorial Scholarship presented to a student enrolled in the accelerated BSN program at Northwestern State University.

“I am pursuing nursing because I deeply want to help and serve others,” Marchand said. “While all areas of nursing interest me, I feel particularly inclined to neonatal nursing.”

The scholarship is supported by the Lauren Vaughn Foundation established by Vaughn’s family.  This year was the second year the Foundation hosted the LV5K on Easter weekend to celebrate Vaughn’s life while raising money for the scholarship and awareness of the dangers of drunk and impaired driving.  This year, the Lauren Vaughn Foundation added $38,000 from their race on April 19 to the Lauren Vaughn Scholarship.

Marchand is a native of Bastrop who moved to Pineville in 2020 to attend Louisiana Christian University, where she majored in biology and minored chemistry.  She graduated in December 2023 and married in July 2024.

Marchand felt a calling to pursue a career in healthcare and had planned to apply to medical school but learned about Northwestern’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing while exploring other options.  The program allows students who already have a bachelor’s degree to complete the required nursing courses needed for the BSN in 16 months. Students must complete all general education classes required for the BSN prior to beginning the nursing courses.

“Through communication with [Assistant Professor] Kathy Vaughn, I learned about the accelerated BSN program and how to apply for it, so I jumped at the chance. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to obtain my BSN in one year,” she said.

Marchand will be taking classes at Northwestern’s Cenla campus, 1410 Neel Kearby Blvd., in Alexandria’s England Industrial Airpark.

“Because my husband and I live in Ball, Louisiana, I am exceedingly thankful for the convenience of Northwestern State University’s Alexandria Campus. I am thankful for every opportunity provided by NSU’s nursing program, and I am especially grateful for the Lauren Vaughn Memorial Scholarship. I am thrilled to begin the accelerated BSN program in May,” Marchand said.

Vaughn, a 2018 graduate of Alexandria Senior High School, became interested in medicine on a high school field trip to LSU Medical Center and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Louisiana Tech. She was enrolled in NSU’s accelerated BSN program and scheduled to graduate in August 2023. On March 31, 2023, Vaughn was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nurses.  She passed away just a few days later on April 7.

Last year, Trey Kolb of Shreveport was the inaugural recipient of the Lauren Vaughn Memorial Scholarship.

To learn more about the Lauren Vaughn Memorial Foundation visit https://www.lv5k.com/ or the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LV5KALEX/.  Friends can contribute to the Lauren Vaughn Scholarship by visiting https://northwesternstatealumni.com/vaughn-scholarship/.

Information on degree programs offered through Northwestern State’s College of Nursing and School of Allied Health is available at https://www.nsula.edu/nursing/.  Information on NSU’s Cenla campus is available at https://www.nsula.edu/cenla/.

Pictured:  NSU nursing student Jesci Marchand placed third in her age group in the second annual LV5K.  Marchand is the 2025 recipient of the Lauren Vaughn Memorial Scholarship presented to a student enrolled in the accelerated BSN program at Northwestern State University. Nikki Bardwell Photography