Friends of Lillian Compton

A dedicated group of alumni, organized by Gladys Faherty (class of ’55), have established the Lillian Compton Scholarship Fund through the FSU Foundation. The award will benefit upper division educational professions majors during the student teaching sequence of their study. In the event of equally qualified applicants, a preference will be given to applicants with demonstrated financial need.
“This scholarship has been long overdue and is in recognition of a great person who touched and influenced the lives of many students during her tenure,“ says Faherty.
The effort began informally several years ago during a campus reunion and then expanded to letter writing and personal contacts by Faherty.
“It really wasn’t that difficult. We (Dot Rowe, class of ’58 and Frenis Hoffman, class of ’54) had an informal committee that sent out letters and made personal appeals to friends. I made a pitch to the Alumni Association and received a more substantial contribution towards the effort. We reached the $10,000 level in less than three years,” explained Faherty.
The effort is far from complete and the committee encourages other alumni and friends who benefited from their experiences with Miss Compton to consider contributing to the fund. “We would like to see the Compton Fund become a premier award at FSU, capable of providing support to every student teacher. I would like to see the find grow to a level whereby 20 to 25 awards could be made per semester which means we need to get the fund over $100,000. It’s possible. Miss Compton helped a great many of us get through college. We all remember how difficult it was student teaching and making ends meet,” added Faherty.
Compton was president of Frostburg State University from 1945 to 1954 and prior to that position was supervisor and later assistant superintendent in the Allegany County school system. She is credited with acquiring from the state legislature the necessary funds for land, facilities and faculty which increased the college from an enrollment of 50 to nearly 500 and provided the basis for its continued development.