For 81 years, the J. Edward Kelley Award has had a rich tradition of awarding outstanding athletes and inspiring young and future leaders at Keyser High School. Now, WVU Potomac State College is offering finalists of the Kelley Award a “bonus” to that community scholarship, to assist students who want to branch out on their own but still feel close to home.
Beginning with the Fall 2026 semester, any nominee of the prestigious Kelley Award from Keyser High School is eligible to receive PSC campus housing and have one year of a meal plan at no cost, as they serve on the PSC Student Government Association and take on a leadership role supporting students, faculty, and staff to track, log, and discover volunteer opportunities through the WVU Center for Community Engagement.
Eligible students are selected through the J. Edward Kelley Society and Award process associated with Keyser High School. The scholarship is intended to recognize outstanding students and student-athletes while encouraging continued leadership, campus engagement, and community service at WVU Potomac State College. Three finalists are chosen for the award, which comes with an endowed scholarship that the winner traditionally splits with the other nominees. The announcement is made in April during a heavily attended ceremony inside the Church-McKee Performing Arts Center.
“We want to welcome the Ed Kelley Scholarship recipients to WVU Potomac State College - Home of the Catamounts - and thank them for choosing Potomac State College for their education,” said PSC President Dr. Jerry Wallace. “We recognize them as outstanding students and student-athletes, and we wish to support their academic pursuits by offering eligible scholarship recipients on-campus housing and a PSC 15-meal plan during at least one year of their academic pursuit at PSC."
In return, PSC asks the recipients to continue to embody the characteristics of leadership they exhibited that initially earned them the prestigious scholarship from Keyser High School.
“During their scholarship-supported period, recipients will be expected to remain actively involved in the Student Government Association (SGA), work closely with the SGA Advisor, and serve as a Student Community Service Liaison for the College,” Wallace said. “Their leadership will help PSC coordinate, monitor, document, and share the impact of student and student-athlete service throughout our communities.”
Since the award finalist from Keyser High School is always a former male football or basketball standout, PSC scholarship recipients will also be expected to meet with Athletic Director Mandi Larkin to serve as a student community service liaison. He will also be directly involved with Kara Hotchkiss, Director of Residence Life and Student Engagement, to coordinate active participation in student government. The recipient will also connect with Whitney R. Glotfelty, Director of Community-Based Learning, for support and training in WVU iServe, the University’s volunteer service platform. Participating students will help encourage appropriate logging of service activities, hours, community partners, and outcomes.
The PSC scholarship recipient will also be expected to provide periodic reports highlighting student participation, service hours, projects, community partners, and meaningful outcomes. The student will also regularly connect with the WVU PSC Strategic Communications and Marketing team to identify student service projects, accomplishments, photographs, testimonials, and impactful stories that may highlight how Catamounts are actively engaged in their communities.
At the conclusion of the first year of participation, the scholarship will be reviewed, and the scholarship may be renewed for each year of the student’s educational career at Potomac State College.
The Kelley Award was founded in 1946 and is named after Army Sergeant Jonah Edward Kelley, who paid the ultimate price after leading an assault on the German community of Kesternich. Despite being wounded, Kelley had led his men on a ferocious attack the day before. That night, he refused evacuation to a field hospital and continued leading his men the next day, when he was further wounded and died. Kelley was initially buried in the Netherlands but later returned to Mineral County for reburial. Because of Kelley’s efforts, Kesternich fell to the Americans, and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Kelley was a native of Rada in Mineral County. He played football and basketball at Keyser High School and then attended Potomac State College before being drafted.
His military sacrifice has been recognized in many ways. Named for him are the Kelley Barracks near Stuttgart, Germany; a Navy ship; an Army Reserve facility at Fort Dix; and a bridge on Route 46 in Mineral County.
For more information, visit this link, or contact by email at psc-officeofdevelopment@mail.wvu.edu or call (304) 788-7085. All gifts to WVU Potomac State College are made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University and its affiliated entities.