SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Jillian Drouin, a junior with the Syracuse track and field team, has been named a Remembrance Scholar by the University. A health and exercise science and nutrition major, Drouin is one of 35 students from the junior class to earn the prestigious scholarship.

The scholarships, among the most prestigious awarded by the University, were founded as a tribute to -- and means of remembrance for -- the 270 people who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Thirty-five SU students were aboard the flight, returning to the United States from a semester of study abroad.

Drouin has excelled at Syracuse both on and off the track. The 2006 BIG EAST Indoor Champion in the high jump, Drouin has earned all-conference accolades three times during her career. The school-record holder in three events, she is a two-time selection to the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team and a five-time member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

Drouin is also a very active member of the Syracuse community. She has participated in numerous ‘Cuse Cares Community Service projects, including Dollar Day and is currently running the Orange Miracle Drive for the Food Bank of Central New York.

A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Drouin is involved in addressing concerns, issues and resolving conflicts pertaining to all of SU’s student-athletes. In addition, she is currently representing Syracuse University at the BIG EAST SAAC Conference. A native of Corunna, Ontario, Canada, Drouin also helped initiate an International Student-Athlete Committee.

The scholarships are funded through an endowment supported by gifts from alumni, friends, parents and corporations. Significant support for the Remembrance Scholarships has been provided by C. Jean Thompson '66 and Richard L. Thompson G'67, in memory of Jean Taylor Phelan Terry '43 and John F. Phelan, Jean Thompson's parents; and by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation.

Remembrance Scholars are chosen in their junior year through a rigorous and competitive process. Applicants for the $5,000 Remembrance Scholarship were asked to highlight their University activities, including community service. Each applicant also wrote an essay and was interviewed by members of the selection committee.

"The 2007-08 Remembrance Scholars showed a high degree of awareness of the value of planning events throughout the year to memorialize the victims and educate the student body about the very real presence of terrorism in the world," said David M. Rubin, dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and chair of the Remembrance Scholars Selection Committee. "They are an engaged and energetic group, and we expect great things from them next year."

The 2007-08 Remembrance Scholars will be recognized during a convocation in Hendricks Chapel in the fall.