Vernon Kennedy Memorial Scholarship

The Vernon Kennedy Memorial Scholarship is available through the University of Central Missouri Alumni Foundation for a student pursuing a degree in teacher education, that graduated from a HS of less than 2,000 (K-12). This scholarship is made possible by way of a gift from the Kennedy Family in memory of Vernon Kennedy, ’29.

Vernon Kennedy was a distinguished graduate of UCM. During his studies, he was all-conference in football for three years and in track for four years, setting records at the Drake and Kansas Relays. In 1927, he won the National Decathlon at the Penn Relays, earning the title of America’s Greatest Athlete and a place on the All-American Track Team.

As a professional baseball player, Kennedy had a career that spanned over twenty years. He pitched a no-hit, no-run game in his rookie year with the Chicago White Sox and was a member of two American League All-Star teams. After retiring, he instructed at several baseball camps and taught driver’s education at Brookfield High School for ten years.

Throughout his life, Kennedy remained a loyal alumnus, rarely missing a homecoming. In 1954, UCM named the football/track complex after him. In 1983, he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus and was inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame in its first class.

Upon his death in 1993, his family and friends established an endowment to provide the Vernon Kennedy Memorial Scholarship to a UCM student majoring in education.