Belton, Texas – On Wednesday, November 16, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor honored seniors Bailey Bohlken of Mount Vernon and Maddie Rarick of Sugar Land with the Gary and Diane Heavin Servant Leadership Award, in recognition of the extraordinary time and energy they have devoted to ministry and community service during their years of study at UMHB. The recognition included a $1,000 cash award for each student, a portion of which could be donated to an organization her choice.
Bohlken is an Education major with an emphasis in mathematics and a four-year player on the Crusader softball team. With a 4.0 grade point average, she is a member of Gamma Beta Phi and Kappa Delta Pi honor societies. An active member of Athletes in Action and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, she volunteers at Ralph Wilson Youth Club in Temple; back in Mount Vernon, she volunteers at the Franklin County food bank and with Franklin County youth baseball, softball, and basketball. She recently traveled to Kenya to visit and work at the orphanage Naomi’s Village; she used portions of her cash award to make gifts to the orphanage and to Love They Neighbor charity in Mount Vernon.
Rarick is a Christian Studies major who has served as a Sunday school teacher and as a life group leader for two years at First Baptist Church of Temple. On campus, she is the co-director of The Merge Project, a student organization she founded to minister to UMHB students. She served as the Student Government chaplain for two years and this year is the director of the university’s annual Easter Pageant. For the last three years, she has used her summers to work as an intern at several churches across Texas. She was recently selected to receive the Pastoral Ministry Scholarship from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and she plans to pursue a career in the ministry after graduation. Rarick chose to donate a portion of her award to Compassion International’s fund for disaster relief in Haiti.
The Gary and Diane Heavin Servant Leadership Award is used to highlight the efforts of students who devote their time and talents to Christian service and to encourage other students to follow their examples. The award is named for Mr. and Mrs. Gary Heavin, who established a generous endowment at UMHB to fund this recognition annually.
