The Elizabeth DeWitt Bardsley Memorial Scholarship

Criteria: Amount equal to one full annual in-state tuition award. The Elizabeth DeWitt Bardsley Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to a student majoring in education, English language and literature, or history who demonstrates a need for financial assistance. Applicants must have a 3.0 GPA and provide an essay on their reason/s for wanting to become a teacher.

Elizabeth “Betty” DeWitt Bardsley, (class of 1941) was a life-long learner, a lover of the written word, a poet, a teacher, a traveler, a wife, mother and foster-mother. Betty was born in Milford, MA, daughter of a struggling grocer and a registered nurse. She entered State Teachers College at Worcester in September of 1937, during the depths of the Great Depression. Throughout her four years, Betty was active in the language and literary clubs, assuming officer positions, while maintaining a stellar academic record. As she pursued her studies and club activities, Betty also worked as a sales clerk. Her part-time jobs and help from a kind aunt made it possible for Betty to earn her degree. It also taught her to value both individual initiative and generosity; lessons she passed on to her children.

Upon graduating in 1941, Betty began her professional career in a Hopedale, MA high school. The advent of World War II, however, changed the trajectory of her life as it did so many others. Betty married a Navy officer, James E.L. Bardsley, (Holy Cross ’41) in 1943, and left the classroom to follow him from base to base and later to raise the couple’s three children. After the family moved from New England to Florida, Betty returned to the teaching profession, working for the Florida public schools, the Diocese of Miami’s Catholic school system, and, finally, serving as adjunct instructor of creative writing at Broward Community College near Ft. Lauderdale. While still an active teacher, Betty earned a Master’s Degree in Education from Barry University in Miami. On the occasion of her ninetieth birthday in 2009, her book of poetry was privately published.

Paralleling Betty’s journey, her Irish-born husband Jim enrolled at Holy Cross in 1937. He played the trumpet and worked in a mill to help pay for his education. After the war, Jim pursued a career as a financial analyst while serving as a reserve officer in the Navy. Throughout their lives, Betty and Jim were active in civic affairs and in their church. It was Betty’s wish that some of the savings she and Jim accumulated over a lifetime of hard work be directed to WSU, and used to launch a deserving student on a career in education.