Fairhope High graduate awarded Baldwin Bengals scholarship

Posted

FAIRHOPE, Alabama — The Baldwin Bengals LSU Alumni Club has awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Emilie Ann Eastman of Fairhope.

The daughter of Scott and Shawn Eastman, the 18-year-old is a 2019 graduate of Fairhope High School and is currently enrolled as a freshman at LSU studying natural resource ecology and management with an emphasis on wetland science.

“This is really the only place I considered for my area of study,” Eastman said. “LSU offers in-state tuition because there is no place in Alabama that offers this field of study.”

Eastman said as a freshman, she is only able to take one class, renewable natural resource, in her course of study, but will have all her basic classes out of the way and be able to take on a full course load by her sophomore year.

“It’s really hands-on and I will be able to take a lot of field classes,” she said. “This spring, I will also be assisting one of my professors in studying the sturgeon.”

She is a member of the Student Wetlands Society and LSU’s bass fishing team.

Upon graduation, Eastman said, she wants to work for an environmental education center, such as the Weeks Bay Estuary.

“I really want to teach students about the environment at the middle and high school levels,” she said. “I want to educate the younger generation on things that really aren’t being taught in school right now.”

The Baldwin Bengal Club was founded in 2013 with the mission of providing the Gulf Coast with an LSU alumni club. Dawn Hebert Beasley was the founding president of the club and Jeffery “Scooter” Pleasant is the club’s current president.

The Baldwin Bengals provide networking opportunities, watch parties and fundraisers to benefit the club.

Primarily funded through an annual crawfish boil, the club has now raised $40,000 to allow the granting of a $1,000 scholarship each year for the foreseeable future. This year’s crawfish boil will be held Saturday, May 2.

This $40,000 fund will increase each year as the club continues its fundraising activities. This will allow for increases in the scholarship level.

For more information, visit the Baldwin Bengals page on Facebook. If you would like to join the club, visit geaux.lsualumni.org/Baldwin.