May 1, 2006

As part of its 10th Anniversary celebration the Big 12 Conference is spotlighting past recipients of the Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship Program. To be eligible for consideration a student-athlete must have possessed a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, participated in at least two years of intercollegiate athletics at the nominating institution, and plan to enroll in graduate school within 15 months of graduation.

This week the Big 12 salutes former University of Colorado student-athletes and Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship winners Andrew Miller and Kim Taskey.

Miller was a multi-event/high jumper/long jumper for the Buffs' track and field teams. He became one of 13 CU student-athletes to record a 4.0 average since 1994 during the fall 2005 semester. Miller plans on a career in politics or teaching as he moves onto life after college athletics.

"The Dr. Gautt Scholarship was a wonderful way to finish my career as a student-athlete at Colorado," he stated. "I competed in Littleton (Denver suburb) in high school, and it has been great to be able to remain in the area and pursue my graduate studies."

Kim Taskey, Colorado.

Taskey, a Buffaloes' volleyball standout, graduated from CU in 2003 and went on to work for the Sterling-Rice Group, a Boulder-based marketing and brand consulting firm. Eighteen months later, she was able to begin graduate school after receiving the Gautt Scholarship.

"Graduate school had always been a dream," she explained, "but the scholarship gave me the extra push I needed to make it a reality. I shifted gears and started pursuing my Masters in Counseling at Denver Seminary in the spring of 2005. Once I graduate in `07, I will be licensed to counsel those in emotional need and spiritual bondage as well as trained to equip people with the necessary life skills to lead a healthy and spirit-filled life of ministry to others. It was a privilege to receive such an honor as the Prentice Gautt Big 12 postgraduate scholarship, but I also see it as a paramount responsibility to now make the best use of what I have been given to serve others and contribute to my local community in new ways."

Since 1997 the Dr. Prentice Gautt Scholarship program has funded nearly $700,000 to Big 12 student-athletes for their postgraduate studies.