2025 Donald "Doc" Lumpkins Memorial Scholarship Program

Established by the Maryland Emergency Management Association (MDEMA), the MDEMA Donald “Doc” Lumpkins Memorial Scholarship Program exists to nurture, promote and develop future emergency management professionals by furthering the education of students studying emergency management and closely related career fields.

Each year, five $1,500 scholarships will be awarded based on a competitive application process. One of these five will be awarded to an applicant from each of the following regions:

Region I - Western Maryland (Allegany, Garrett, Washington Counties)

Region II - National Capital (Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's Counties)

Region III - Central Maryland (Cities of Annapolis & Baltimore; plus Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard Counties)

Region IV - Eastern Shore (Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, Worcester Counties)

Region V - Southern Maryland (Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's Counties)

NOTE: In the event that no viable submissions are received from a region (or similar circumstance), the Committee may repurpose unawarded funds to make additional awards to other regions.

Eligibility

1) A senior attending an accredited Maryland high school who've been accepted to a 2- or 4-year college/university, and plan to major in emergency management or a closely related field; or

2) A student currently accepted to or already enrolled in a two- or four-year college or university who is pursuing a degree in emergency management or a closely related field.

Preference will be given to students pursuing (or, for high schoolers, intending to pursue) a degree in emergency management. However, students pursuing degrees in closely related fields (e.g., criminal justice, homeland security, fire science, public administration, etc.) may still apply! If you're not sure if your intended degree program meets this requirement, ask! Send an email to kara.buckmaster@calvertcountymd.gov with "MDEMA Scholarship Program - Closely Related" in the subject line, let us know what your intended major is, and we'll let you know if it meets the criteria.

NOTE: Members of MDEMA are currently NOT ELIGIBLE for the scholarship program. Effective for the 2025 Award, however, their (members') family members ARE eligible to apply. In the event that a Scholarship Committee member's family member applies, that Scholarship Committee member will recuse themselves from award decisions.

Submission Criteria

Submissions will be reviewed by the MDEMA Scholarship Committee, and judged on the following criteria:

• Essay quality (including but not limited to: thoroughness in answering the prompt, use of proper grammar/spelling/punctuation, and appropriate formatting) 
  [Download scoring rubric]
• Successful completion of the Regional Emergency Management Contact Form
• Relevance of intended/current field of study to emergency management
• Evidence of community involvement
• Student records, including: 
  • Unweighted GPA
  • Thoroughness in following submission instructions
• Personal references

Essay Prompt

This year's essay prompt will be:

Deadline

Applications must be submitted using the online form linked below. Applications submitted in other formats will not be considered. 

Applications must be submitted no later than April 20, 2025 at 11:59pm.

Application