A signing event for the Don C. Dilley BoomTown Scholarship was held on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the new freshman wing at Borger High School.
Through a $1.5 million bequest from the estate of Don C. Dilley Jr., a partnership was formed between the Amarillo Area Foundation, Borger Economic Development Corp., Frank Phillips College and Borger Independent School District. The gift will be used to create the Don C. Dilley BoomTown Scholarship.
The Boomtown Scholarship will cover, for eligible students, tuition and fees at FPC for up to 36 credit hours.
Along with the required 24 dual credit hours Borger ISD will fund, this will give students 60 college hours. This is a tremendous opportunity for Borger High School students.
To be eligible to be a Dilley Borger BoomTown Scholar a student must reside in the Borger ISD attendance zone on or before the last day of his or her ninth-grade year and reside in the attendance zone until graduation from BHS and earn a final grade point average of 80 or higher. The children of employees of Borger ISD are eligible if they reside in the Borger ISD attendance zone at any time during their ninth-, 10th- or 11th-grade years or enroll by the first day of the 12th grade, attend full-time and graduate from BHS.
This scholarship guarantees that beginning May 2020, eligible graduates from BHS can earn an associate degree or a career certificate from FPC without paying any tuition or fees.
Eligible BHS graduates can utilize the BoomTown Scholarship funds to complete a certificate in welding, process technology, instrumentation, electrical, and LVN - just to name a few. Students can also work on completing their Associate degree with the scholarship funds and even transfer those credits to a 4-year university.
Children of Borger ISD employees residing in the Borger ISD attendance zone at any time during their ninth-, 10th- or 11th-grade years or enrolled by the first day of the 12th grade, attend full-time thereafter and graduate from BHS are also eligible for the scholarship.
Don C. Dilley Jr. was born in Dallas in 1934. He was the only son of Borger’s Donald and Carol Dilley. Don attended Borger High School, New Mexico Military Institute, Texas Tech University, and the University of California Davis.
Dilley Jr. passed away on Nov. 15, 2017, with no heirs. He chose to gift his estate to a number of entities, including (but not all) the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Cal Farley’s
Boys Ranch and the Amarillo Area Foundation for the benefit of students from Borger.
Dilley Jr. served three years on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Navy, and then four
years as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve. He attained the permanent rank of
Lieutenant. Dilley Jr. was a farmer in the Gruver area of the Texas Panhandle from 1966 until he retired in 1988. In addition, he had various other business interests in Texas, New Mexico, California and Florida.
Dilley’s legacy will live on with the BoomTown Scholarship — fueling Borger’s future through education and an educated workforce.