Andre Zeromski ’20 Selected as Kemper Scholar

By Julie Cline
June 1, 2017

“As a current undergraduate student at W&L and an Eagle Scout, I am passionate about bringing social progress through community service, finance and technological advancement.”

Andre Zeromski, of San Marcos, California, a first-year student at Washington and Lee University, has been selected as one of 16 in the 2017 incoming class of Kemper Scholars.

The competitive Kemper Scholarship prepares students throughout their undergraduate days for leadership and service, especially in the fields of administration and business. In seven of the last eight years, W&L students have been selected.

“I am delighted at being selected to be a Kemper Scholar,” said Zeromski. “As a current undergraduate student at W&L and an Eagle Scout, I am passionate about bringing social progress through community service, finance and technological advancement. I have had more than two years working part time in various collaborative team environments.”

Zeromski is double majoring in computer science and economics and minoring in mathematics. During his first year, he was a member of the Engineering Community Development Club (ECD) and assisted in planning and fundraising for a service trip to Belize to deliver an ECD-designed water filtration system.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Zeromski collaborated with the Escondido, California, Humane Society to install a new dog interaction yard. He also raised $2,000 for the project.

The James S. Kemper Foundation, which funds the program, supports undergraduate study of the liberal arts as the best preparation for life and career, while providing opportunities for career exploration, practical experience and professional growth. It fosters potential leaders who pursue a broad undergraduate education, while participating in community service, campus activities and vocational exploration outside the classroom.

Recipients are selected from a national applicant pool of first-year college students and receive scholarship assistance for three years based on financial need. Each also receives summer project stipends for two years, attends the annual Kemper Scholars Conference and performs a summer internship at a Chicago-area major non-profit organization after their sophomore year.

Following their junior year, scholars are placed in paid summer internships throughout the U.S. with the Kemper Corp., to gain experience and skills in various industries.

“Kemper Scholars are a select group of undergraduate students from top colleges and universities around the country,” explains Jerry Fuller, executive director of the James S. Kemper Foundation. “They are selected because they are committed to the studies, serve their communities, and because they have exhibited leadership and well-rounded, ethical character. Throughout the over six decades of the program, scholars have gone on to make outstanding contributions as leaders in organizations around the world.”