MILLIGAN, Tenn. (WJHL) – Milligan University has announced the first student to be the recipient of a scholarship memorializing a cross country runner who died in 2022 after being hit by a car while running with his teammates.
According to the university, freshman Cameron Walker is the inaugural recipient of the Eli Cramer Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is funded through the LIVE like ELI Foundation, a nonprofit that was formed after Cramer’s death.
A release from Milligan states Walker was chosen because of “her work ethic, character and zeal for supporting other runners, all qualities that Cramer emulated.”
Walker ran for Central Magnet High School and holds a personal best of 21:17 in the 5k for cross country competition. Now a part of the Lady Buffaloes, Walker joins a team that is ranked second in the NAIA.
“Eli’s untimely death still resonates on our campus and throughout the Milligan community because of the impact he had on those around him,” Milligan President Bill Greer stated in the university’s release. “This scholarship will ensure that Eli’s impact will be perpetuated for generations to come and is a fitting way to remember someone who cared so much about others.”
The scholarship is given to a student who participates in cross country and track and field who also earns a minimum 3.5 GPA. The scholarship also “aims to support students from Cramer’s hometown of Murfreesboro or a student from middle Tennessee.”
Walker is majoring in mechanical engineering while at Milligan.
