Ballard Cup Golf Scramble continues to raise money for scholarship

The Eta Eta Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and its alumni group hosted the 14th Annual Ballard Cup Golf Scramble at Eagle Trace Golf Course this past April. The yearly golf outing was named for the late Morehead State University student Matthew Kenneth Ballard and serves as a yearly fundraiser for the Matthew K. Ballard Memorial Scholarship Fund at MSU, which was created in his honor. 

Ballard was a senior pursuing a degree in sports management when he died from injuries sustained from a motorcycle accident in July 2005. He was 21. Prior to his death, the Clearfield native served as both a student assistant for the MSU Football team and a member if Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He was a graduate of Rowan County High Senior High School, where he was a member of both the school’s football and baseball teams. 

"This event is meant to honor a young man who was taken too soon. Matthew was an individual who was extremely upstanding in the Morehead community. He was known to always selflessly lend a helping hand,” said MSU alumnus Brad Hagen (06). “This event was created to keep his legacy going and give back by providing scholarships to young men so those individuals too can carry on and pave their own avenues for success.” 

The Matthew K. Ballard Memorial Scholarship Fund, managed by the MSU Foundation, is awarded to active members of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Nicholas Kessinger was awarded the scholarship for the 2019-20 school year. The Louisa native is graduate of the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science in Mathematics and is entering his senior year as a biomedical sciences major. For the past two years, he served as the president of the Eta Eta Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha. Upon graduation, he plans to attend physical therapy school. 

For more information on this scholarship, or to establish your own, contact MSU’s Office of Alumni Relations and Development at 606-783-2033, email giving@moreheadstate.edu or visit alumni.moreheadstate.edu/give or www.moreheadstate.edu/scholarships.