Class includes Anna Alexander of Barren County High School; Brycen Bates of Academy for Individual Excellence; Cecilia Hiatt of Mason County High School; Deborah Seth-Osehahumen of Ambassadors College in Nigeria; and Addison Hart and Luke Popplewell of Russell County High School.
COLUMBIA, KY. (05/16/2025) The six members of Lindsey Wilson College’s Class of 2029 John B. Begley Scholars represent a broad range of educational interests and career goals. They have also all been models of involvement at their respective schools.
But one trait they all share is that they will be members of the first class to enter the school after it becomes Lindsey Wilson University on July 1.
Lindsey Wilson’s most prestigious scholarship, the Begley Scholarship is a full-tuition, room-and-board scholarship that provides students with unparalleled academic- and cultural-enrichment experiences. It is named in honor of Lindsey Wilson’s sixth president.
The six members of the Class of 2029 Begley Scholars are:
* Anna Alexander of Glasgow, Kentucky;
* Brycen Bates of Louisville, Kentucky;
* Addison Hart of Jamestown, Kentucky;
* Cecilia Hiatt of Maysville, Kentucky;
* Luke Popplewell of Russell Springs, Kentucky;
* and Deborah Seth-Osehahumen of Lekki, Nigeria.
Close to home
Three of the new Begley Scholars — Alexander, Hart and Popplewell — grew up near and around Lindsey Wilson.
Alexander, a Barren County High School senior who plans to major in elementary education, is a Blue Raider legacy. Her mother, Cindy Rowland Alexander ’99, also majored in education.
“My mom loves Lindsey Wilson as much as I do,” said Alexander, a 2024 Kentucky Governor’s Scholar who has been a member of the Barren County cross country, swim team, and track and field teams, as well as an officer this year in five of her school’s clubs. “So when I got the scholarship, she was as excited as I was.”
Popplewell is also a Lindsey Wilson legacy. His father, Tim ’05, and stepmother, Kendra ’06, are Blue Raider graduates, which gave him multiple opportunities to see the school while he was growing up and attending nearby Russell County High School.
Popplewell said he became even more impressed with Lindsey Wilson, however, when he sat in on a couple of classes, especially one taught by political science professor Matt Powers.
“I just loved the way Dr. Powers teaches his class — very open, just a great guy,” said Popplewell, whose plans to major in business administration with an accounting emphasis and possibly double major in political science “His class really did catch my attention.”
Hart, Popplewell’s Russell County High School classmate, said she was drawn to Lindsey Wilson because it will help prepare her for medical school.
“I was attracted to the personal attention offered at Lindsey Wilson,” said Hart, who will major in biology and minor in chemistry and has career plans to become a pediatrician. “The people I met on campus were so nice. It just felt like I was surrounded by good people who would help me.”
A 6,000-mile journey
If Alexander, Hart and Popplewell had the benefit of growing up near Lindsey Wilson, Seth-Osehahumen had to rely on what she saw online and through video conversations with Lindsey Wilson faculty and staff. That’s because her home is nearly 6,000 miles from Columbia.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Seth-Osehahumen grew up about an hour away in Lekki and went to high school at the Ambassadors College in Ota, Nigeria. She came across Lindsey Wilson when she was wrapping up her college search in late 2024. She said she was drawn to Lindsey Wilson because of its liberal arts curriculum and it was “aligned with my values.”
She was also impressed with the help she received from her admissions counselor.
“She was so responsive to my questions,” said Seth-Osehahumen, who plans to major in business administration. “It just made me feel so part of the community.”
Seth-Osehahumen was even further impressed when she was informed that she had been named a Begley Scholar by Lindsey Wilson President William T. Luckey Jr. and First Lady Elise Luckey.
“Even when I got notified, I loved the fact that it wasn’t just a random email. I like the fact that the president organized a Zoom meeting and actually told me,” she said. “I got to have an interaction with him, and that really stands out for me.”
‘Lindsey Wilson is like a rocket ship’
Somewhat closer to campus, Bates and Hiatt said the personal attention they received from Lindsey Wilson staff and faculty helped the college stand out in their searches.
“I was looking for a smaller college where I could build stronger relationships with my professors,” said Bates, a senior at the Academy for Individual Excellence. “Lindsey Wilson stuck out to me because they were incredibly nice and very welcoming.”
Hiatt said the “homey feeling” of Lindsey Wilson also appeared to her.
“It is a large campus, but everyone was so welcoming and so friendly from the moment I got there,” said Hiatt, a 2024 Kentucky Governor’s Scholar who is a Mason County High School senior.
Hiatt said that Lindsey Wilson’s campus diversity, which includes students from nearly four dozen countries, also appealed to her.
“Being in a community that is so diverse, that is different from Maysville, is what I’m excited for,” said Hiatt, who plans to major in biology as a path to pharmacy school.
Hiatt’s involvement at Mason County has included being a member of the Royals’ cross country and track and field programs, which she plans to continue at Lindsey Wilson. The one wrinkle is that Hiatt and her family members will need to purchase new Lindsey Wilson gear to reflect the school’s name change on July 1.
“We got all of my Lindsey Wilson College stuff, and then we were like, ‘Oh, no, we’re going to have to change it,'” said Hiatt.
But as Popplewell said, the wardrobe change will be worth it.
“When I was talking to President Luckey, he said, ‘Lindsey Wilson is like a rocket ship, and it’s about to take off, and we want you on board,'” he said. “That made me feel like, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s about to take off. I’m glad I’m going to be on the ship.'”
Barren County High School senior Anna Alexander of Glasgow, Kentucky, has been named a Lindsey Wilson College John B. Begley Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, the college’s most prestigious scholarship. She is pictured with Lindsey Wilson’s mascot, Blue Raider Bob.
Academy for Individual Excellence senior Brycen Bates of Louisville, Kentucky, has been named a Lindsey Wilson College John B. Begley Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, the college’s most prestigious scholarship. He is pictured with Lindsey Wilson’s mascot, Blue Raider Bob.
Russell County High School senior Addison Hart of Jamestown, Kentucky, has been named a Lindsey Wilson College John B. Begley Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, the college’s most prestigious scholarship. She is pictured with Lindsey Wilson’s mascot, Blue Raider Bob.
Mason County High School senior Cecilia Hiatt of Maysville, Kentucky, has been named a Lindsey Wilson College John B. Begley Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, the college’s most prestigious scholarship. She is pictured with Lindsey Wilson’s mascot, Blue Raider Bob.
Russell County High School senior Luke Popplewell of Russell Springs, Kentucky, has been named a Lindsey Wilson College John B. Begley Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, the college’s most prestigious scholarship. He is pictured with Lindsey Wilson’s mascot, Blue Raider Bob.
Ambassadors College senior Deborah Seth-Osehahumen of Lekki, Nigeria, has been named a Lindsey Wilson College John B. Begley Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, the college’s most prestigious scholarship.
Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson — which will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1 — has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college’s 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)