Former speech instructor creates new scholarship for BHC students

head & shoulders portrait of Diana Corley SchnappDr. Diana Corley Schnapp taught speech at Black Hawk College for 22 years and touched the lives of hundreds of students. She left the Quad Cities in 1992 but Black Hawk College remained in her thoughts.

“The best part of my experience was getting to work with the wide variety of students,” she said.

Now she hopes to touch the lives of even more Black Hawk College students with the new Dr. Diana Corley Schnapp Endowed Scholarship.

“I am hoping that the scholarship will make it possible for many to reach the goal of obtaining a quality education,” she said.

The need-based scholarship is open to Quad-Cities Campus students in any major.

“Because Black Hawk serves a broad range of students with differing social, educational, cultural and financial backgrounds, it makes possible the chance for people who could not attend four-year schools to begin their education and perhaps go on to other higher degrees beyond the associate,” she said.

When Dr. Corley Schnapp left Black Hawk College, she moved to the Chicago area and later to Kansas where she continued to work in higher education. She retired from teaching in 2003.

“I owe much to my experience at Black Hawk,” she said. “The colleges and universities with which I worked after leaving Black Hawk have only begun to do things that BHC was doing years ago.”

Black Hawk College Foundation logoThe Black Hawk College Foundation is grateful to Dr. Corley Schnapp for investing in BHC students.

“Diana now leaves a legacy in perpetuity for students to obtain education with a lesser financial burden,” said Zenaida Landeros, executive director of the BHC Foundation.

“Creating opportunities like these has a life-changing impact on students,” Landeros said.

The first Dr. Diana Corley Schnapp Scholarship will be awarded in 2023. Students planning to attend Black Hawk College this fall can apply for 2021-22 scholarships through Saturday, May 15.

Planned giving is a wonderful way to leave a legacy to Black Hawk College while enjoying tax and income benefits now and in the future. Whether you are an individual, family or business, the Black Hawk College Foundation can help you choose the method of support that is best for your situation. Get an overview of and information about different methods of planned giving for individuals, families and family trusts, as well as information for corporations, organizations and businesses, in this planned giving brochure (PDF).

To learn more about how you can give, contact Zenaida Landeros at landerosz@bhc.edu or 309-796-5052.