Andria Merkle awarded ICCTA Gregg Chadwick Scholarship

A Heartland Community College student has received statewide recognition for a commitment to community service. 

Andria Merkle has been named recipient of the Gregg Chadwick Student Service Scholarship established by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA). 

Merkle, who recently completed her first year at Heartland Community College, is the 2023 recipient of the award, which provides a $500 scholarship to a currently enrolled Illinois community college student for extraordinary commitment to volunteer service. 

All currently enrolled students at ICCTA member colleges are eligible to participate in the Gregg Chadwick Student Service Scholarship competition. Each college may submit one entry per academic year. 

Fitting with Chadwick’s long career of public service, the scholarship supports students who are dedicated to the enrichment of others. 

“Gregg Chadwick was a true servant leader in that he was quiet, steady, kind, and a friend,” said Jon Looney, ICCTA president. “In this spirit, ICCTA established the Gregg Chadwick Student Service Scholarship to honor his longtime and heartfelt legacy of public service.” 

During the 2022-2023 academic year at Heartland Community College, Andria Merkle coordinated several on-campus events. During the 2022 mid-term elections, Merkle hosted an election party at HCC on behalf of the Political Science Club. In October 2022, Merkle collaborated with the YWCA during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, leading to a successful drive for hygiene supplies, which garnered a total of $700 in donations. Merkle was also responsible for hosting the first-ever Nostalgic November event at HCC on behalf of Heartland’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. This spring Merkle was elected as the Heartland Community College Student Trustee and was seated on April 25.  

The award honors the legacy of longtime Heartland Community College Trustee Gregg Chadwick, who passed away in the summer of 2021. At the time he was serving as both chair of Heartland’s District 540 Board of Trustees as well as President of the ICCTA. 

Chadwick had served on the HCC Board of Trustees since 2002 and was elected Chair of the Board in 2009. He had also served the ICCTA in previous roles, including Treasurer (2009-2010), Chair of the Government Relations and Public Policy Committee (2017-2019), and as Vice President (2019-2020). Chadwick served as Chief Operating Officer at Marcfirst in Normal.