LCU honors late student Ashleigh Reedy with memorial scholarship
‘All she cared about was loving other people’
LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Lubbock Christian University has created the Ashleigh Reedy Memorial Scholarship, honoring her dedication as a student and her servant’s heart.
The beloved student died early this month, less than a year after her diagnosis for metastatic melanoma.
“The beauty of this is that for decades to come, Ashleigh will be honored, she’ll be remembered,” Raymond Richardson, LCU Vice President of University Advancement said. “Students who will get that scholarship, and they may or may not have known Ashleigh...but they’ll also get information about who Ashleigh was and the impact that she had at Lubbock Christian and in her life.”
Her cousin, Madalyn Franklin, says that impact included her loyalty as a friend and how she demonstrated the love of Christ to others.
“One thing I keep thinking about is just her humble service to everybody around her. She didn’t care about the spotlight, all she cared about was loving other people,” Franklin said.
Reedy was diagnosed with stage four metastatic melanoma last summer. In the fall, doctors discovered it had spread to the fluid surrounding her brain.
“After that, she continued doing treatment. She continued going to her job working. She continued going to school, doing all of the pre nursing classes, including genetics online, as she was going to treatments back every other week in Houston,” Franklin, said.
Given months to live, Franklin says Reedy made the most of every moment.
“Even got to rush the field against the University of Texas and Oklahoma, and those were some pretty good games,” Franklin said.
The Red Raiders repaid the visit later on, as several players and Head Coach Joey McGuire encouraged Reedy with a trip to her family’s home.
Franklin says she was a humble servant, hoping to one day become a nurse. Terry Delaney, a nursing professor and Reedy’s academic advisor, says she was extremely passionate about that dream, even after her diagnosis.
“Always tried to figure out how we could make it work, and I could tell she just didn’t want to give up on that dream of becoming a nurse,” Delaney said.
Covenant and LCU rewarded her persistence, granting Reedy honorary nursing and bachelor’s degrees. Both organizations visited Reedy at her family’s home to give the honors, with LCU performing a full ceremony in academic regalia.
“She was just so good at realizing who people were, and getting to their strengths and giving them the opportunities to build on those strengths,” Reedy’s friend, Matlin Mimms, said.
Mimms says Reedy gets to keep giving people those opportunities through the memorial scholarship.
“The idea is that whoever gets the scholarship will be able to talk to her parents and the rest of her family, and just hear stories and to kind of get a glimpse of who she was and just kind of live out that legacy,” Franklin said.
You can support students following in Reedy’s footsteps by donating to the Ashleigh Reedy Memorial Scholarship.
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