2025 Tuition Award Program Winners

The Dority-Vaughn Tuition Award Program announced its inaugural group of tuition award winners. The program was launched in 2024, and the first set of applications were submitted by February 28, 2025. Decisions were made in the spring of 2025.

All five of our winners are exemplary students who have many academic, leadership and volunteer experiences, and their essays on successful labor-management relations in the workplace were very insightful. Two of our winners are UFCW members who work for JLMC employers, and three are the dependents of UFCW members who work for JLMC employers.

Congratulations to our first group of winners! We wish you the best of luck in college!

• Emily Shaver has been an employee of Tops in New York and a member of UFCW Local One since June 2020. She is pursuing her secondary education at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York.
• Emra Muslim is the daughter of Edisa Muslim, who has worked for Fry’s in Phoenix, Arizona since 2001 as a member of UFCW Local 99. Emra is a full-time student at Arizona State University.
• Kai Yamamoto is the daughter of Rey Yamamoto, who has been an employee of Albertsons in Long Beach, California since 1973 and a member of UFCW Local 324. Kai plans to continue her secondary education at University of California, Berkeley.
• Natalie Tallu is the daughter of Nada Tallu, who has worked for Kroger in Bloomfield, Michigan since 2007 as a member of UFCW Local 876. Natalie is entering an accelerated seven-year dental program at the University of Detroit Mercy.
• Noah Funderburk has been an employee of Kroger Ohio since 2021 and a member of UFCW Local 75. He is attending Wright State University in the fall and has an impressive record of leadership, volunteer and academic achievements, as well as strong employment experience at Kroger and as a local union member.

Applications for 2026 scholarships will be available on this site in late 2025.