Huskers Endow Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship

The fifth annual Julie Geis Memorial Golf Tournament proved to be another huge success on Monday, Aug. 14, as the festivities culminated with the announcement that the goal of fully endowing the Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship had been reached. The announcement was met with hugs and cheers from members of the Geis family, as well as friends and teammates of Julie's and continued supporters of Nebraska softball.

Sparked by the spirit, determination and energy in which Julie lived her life, it took a mere five years to raise the $250,000 needed to fully endow the scholarship in her name. Now, the Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship will live off the interest and continue to ensure that both the scholarship and Julie Geis will live on forever with the Nebraska softball program.

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Citing Julie's goal-oriented nature, head coach Rhonda Revelle announced at last year's tournament that the goal for the 2006 event was to fully endow the scholarship. Revelle was pleased to announce midway through a reception that the goal had been met.

“It gave me goose bumps when two of Julie’s dearest friends were bidding like crazy on the beach house provided by an alumni Nebraska Softball player, Denise Day. I looked around the room and people were ready to jump out of their skin with excitement.  It was absolutely a perfect moment, and then when Denise (Day) extended the offer to each party to double the value for the scholarship...the place erupted! It could not have been scripted better, and it will stand as one of the most outstanding moments in Nebraska Softball history.”

Geis, a four-year letterwinner for the Husker softball team from 1976 to 1979 was killed in the <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>WorldTradeCenter attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The scholarship, which is awarded annually to a current member of the Nebraska softball team, was created in her memory.

The recipient of the 2006-07 Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship was also announced. The scholarship, which is awarded to a native Nebraskan, was presented to Wayne native Molly Hill, a right-handed pitcher who capped a terrific freshman season by posting a 4.0 grade-point average in the classroom, while finishing with an 18-2 record in the circle to post the best single-season winning percentage in school history.

While Hill was presented the scholarship by Julie's mother, Betty Geis, and Coach Revelle, past recipients of the scholarship were present and were shown in a video tribute honoring Julie's memory and the contributions she made not only to Husker softball, but women's athletics at all levels in the state of Nebraska.

Jaime Borg (the 2005-06 recipient), Katie Linke (2004-05) and Amanda Buchholz (2002-03) were all present to see the scholarship become fully endowed, while Peaches James (2003-04) was unable to attend because of her professional playing career.

The success of the event gave the Nebraska softball program its second fully endowed scholarship. The Richard Raimondi Memorial Scholarship, created in December of 2001 by the Raimondi family, was the first fully endowed scholarship for a female athlete at Nebraska. Husker softball is the lone women's sport at Nebraska to have a fully endowed scholarship.

In addition to the celebration and scholarship presentation, there were plenty of other festivities occurring on what would have been Julie's 49th birthday. A four-person scramble at Wilderness Ridge began the day's events, followed by the reception which included a silent and live auction, as well as the video tribute to Julie and the sharing of memories from Julie's friends and family.

"All of the people that have  invested their heart and souls, talents and resources to make the goal of fully endowing the Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship are the real heroes and reason for this success. Words cannot adequately express the love, affection and gratitude that the Nebraska Softball family has for the Geis family, the volunteers, friends of Julie and the devoted golfers. This has been a very special journey that began out of tragedy and sadness and culminated into a celebration and the growth of wonderful friendships and memories.

"We all know that Julie is very proud."