On Octo­ber 22, 2020, recip­i­ents of the Bright Schol­ars of Iowa award and Lois Dale Bright Schol­ar­ship gath­ered vir­tu­al­ly with rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the Bright Foun­da­tion and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa to rec­og­nize the 2020 recip­i­ents, which include:

• Abd­i­fa­tah Abd­u­all­hi – Lois Dale Bright Scholarship
• Jor­dan Ander­son – Bright Schol­ars of Iowa
• Jaden Blake­man – Lois Dale Bright Scholarship
• Hope Hjelme­land – Bright Schol­ars of Iowa
• Kathy Le – Lois Dale Bright Scholarship
• Abdul­lahi Mohamed – Lois Dale Bright Scholarship
• Rea­gan Pel­let – Bright Schol­ars of Iowa
• Faith Sur­face – Bright Schol­ars of Iowa
• Jaiden Utech – Bright Schol­ars of Iowa

Pri­or to the event, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa Cen­ter for Advance­ment dis­trib­uted an ​“Event in a Box” to all schol­ars with a Bright Schol­ar cook­ie, in lieu of the usu­al after­noon snack at in-per­son recep­tions. Also includ­ed in the box were Bright Schol­ar t‑shirts from the Bright Foun­da­tion for all schol­ars and the 2020 cohort recip­i­ents received their medal­lions, dis­play boards, and Bright Sto­ry books. 

The vir­tu­al for­mat proved to be a fun way to make con­nec­tions among the schol­ars with a lot of advice shar­ing and schol­ar-led plan­ning to gath­er in social­ly dis­tanced ways in the future. The for­mat also pro­vid­ed a unique way for schol­ars and Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa staff to share their appre­ci­a­tion to the Bright Foun­da­tion, which was a sur­prise to Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Mered­ith Dohmen and Board Pres­i­dent Tom Press who attend­ed the event.