Vaughn Scholarship recipient Guillory changing careers to help others
NATCHITOCHES – Alexander Guillory of Natchitoches is the 2026 recipient of the Lauren Vaughn Memorial Scholarship presented to a student enrolled in the accelerated BSN program at Northwestern State University’s Cenla campus.
The scholarship is supported by the Lauren Vaughn Foundation established by the Vaughn family three years ago. This year, the Lauren Vaughn Foundation added $30,000 to the endowment through proceeds hosted by the LV5K on Easter weekend, an event that celebrates Lauren Vaughn’s life while raising money for the scholarship and awareness of the dangers of drunk and impaired driving
Her mother Bridget Vaughn speaks to 10th graders in the Sudden Impact Program, an initiative of the Louisiana State Police to educate teens about the consequences of reckless driving, encourage healthy behaviors and discourages poor decision-making behind the wheel.
“Since Lauren’s death I definitely have a mission,” she said. “Our goal is to raise awareness about impaired driving. The issue isn’t ‘Do you drink.’ The issue is if you’re going to drink how are you going to find the way home. I tell the kids you’ve got to make a plan. You’ve got to have a plan A and a Plan B, because there are so many times that plan A goes wrong. What are you going to do to get home safely? It has to be with the sober driver.”
Guillory is the third recipient the scholarship. He grew up in Natchitoches, graduated from Northwestern State in 2020 and taught for five years before deciding “to shift careers in a direction to help others and ‘be the change,’” he said. A 4.0 student, he spent the last year, while teaching fulltime, taking science courses on-line to earn the prerequisite credits required for nursing. He plans to become an intensive care unit nurse or a cardiovascular nurse.
Last year’s recipient, Jesci Lord of Ball, was also recognized. She will complete her final semester this summer and go to work in a medical-surgical unit at CHRISTUS St. Francis Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria.
NSU’s accelerated BSN program is an intensive track in which students who already have a bachelor’s degree can complete the required nursing courses needed for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 16 months. Students must complete all general education classes required for the BSN prior to beginning the nursing courses. The Vaughn Scholarship is awarded for four consecutive semesters beginning and ending with the summer semester to a student attending NSU’s Cenla’s campus.
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, 2023.
“Our LV5K is the largest fundraiser that we do, and it is always going to be on the Saturday after Good Friday,” Bridget Vaughn said. “We will keep raising money as long as we can. One day maybe the LV5K isn’t around but because of the endowment it’s still going to generate funds so we can award the scholarship.”
Vaughn said it’s important to support students attending NSU’s Cenla campus to help individuals in the Alexandria community.
“Going through four clinical semesters is fast-paced and you really don’t have a chance to work,” she said. “For students who are going back to school, getting those funds, helping them pay tuition is huge so today.”
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/about/campuses-directions/alexandria/.