By Nikila Sri-Kumar

Chloe Searcy ’07, who moved to Los Angeles from North Carolina in 2004, is the second member of her family to be a candidate for the Morehead Scholarship awarded by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Searcy’s father was a finalist for the scholarship, which includes four years of tuition to UNC, books, room, board, a laptop computer and a stipend of spending money.
She was selected by a school committee at the end of last school year, and President Thomas C. Hudnut informed Searcy of her nomination.

“I got a call from his secretary, and she said, ‘We need to set up an appointment with you and Mr. Hudnut in the next couple days,’” Searcy said. “She wouldn’t tell me what it was about until I got there, so it was scary.”

She would definitely attend UNC if she received the scholarship, Searcy said. “When I went there to visit, I sat down with the head of the Morehead committee and talked to her about what the Morehead is. It’s such a separate thing from the actual university. The one thing I’ve been really sure of through this college search is that I don’t want a school that is too big for me. That separation makes it feel smaller.”

The general criteria for a Morehead scholar are achievement in leadership, scholarship, moral force of character and physical vigor, Dean Rose-Ellen Racanelli said. “She fits that total picture.”

“I was surprised because the biggest criteria are athletics, community service and leadership,” Searcy said. “I guess you can find that in other ways than playing sports or actually being president of the school.”

Searcy, who joined the school in 10th grade, was the Student Council President, the lead in a number of plays and co-captain of the junior varsity basketball team at her school in North Carolina.

Searcy acted in last year’s play “Metamorphoses,” one act “Stickman,” and a number of video art projects. She also plays the guitar and piano and coaches her younger brother’s youth basketball team.

“I think she brings a good sense of self and a willingness to work hard to attain goals to whatever she does,” Racanelli said.

All students who attend high school in North Carolina can apply for the Morehead without being nominated, and 155 out-of-state schools nominate one student each year.

In October 40 to 50 of the out-of-state nominees will join about 70 North Carolina finalists to interview with the Central Selection Committee in Chapel Hill before the scholarship is offered to approximately 50 of the candidates.

Recent winners include Spencer Rascoff ’93, Valerie Alter ’98, Shonu Ghandhi ’99, Philip Song ’01, Samuel Kang ’02 and Zach Goren ’03.