Liberty Energy Scholarships Transform Lives of Montana Tech Students

Sydney Doyle and Myles McClernan say they only ever had one college in mind as they filled out applications in their senior year at Butte High.

“I never really had intentions of leaving Butte,” Doyle remembers. “It’s just been home, and hopefully it will be forever, so when it came time to apply for school, it felt natural to apply to Montana Tech.”

However, when Doyle filled out her federal student aid application, she was hit with some difficult news. She did not qualify for any type of federal aid besides student loans.

“The only option I had was to take out a loan,” Doyle said. “I was dead set on not doing that.”

Doyle applied for scholarships and hoped they would cover the cost of her education. One day in spring 2020, she, McClernan, and 15 other Butte High students were called to the office at the end of their senior year. School officials informed them they would be the first recipients of the Liberty Energy Scholarships.

The Liberty Energy scholarships were established in 2019 with a $400,000 gift that will be expended over a 10-year period. The scholarship covers the unmet financial need of Butte students after other scholarships and grants are applied.

 “Liberty’s mission is to better human lives, and there is no better example of them doing this than through the Liberty Scholars Program at Montana Tech,” Montana Tech Chancellor Les Cook said. “The program is providing opportunities for students who would have never considered education as an option. We couldn’t be more grateful for Liberty’s support and the difference they are making in the lives of our students.”

“We are extremely appreciative of our partnership with Liberty Energy," said Luke Meyer, Vice President of Development for the Montana Tech Foundation.  "Liberty is literally changing students’ lives through the Liberty Scholars Program and directly energizes and advances the industries and communities in which our graduates work and live.”

Doyle and McClernan are on track to graduate this year without any student debt. Both are headed into fields where the energy produced by Liberty plays a vital role in creating the equipment, infrastructure, and electricity required to do business. Doyle is a nursing student who wants to serve the community she grew up in.

“Nursing is a profession where you can go anywhere, and have so many different career options within the field,” Doyle said. “It gives me some peace of mind knowing that I have options. I hope to end up in obstetrics or a family practice setting, so I’m around families within my community, interacting with them as they grow.”

McClernan is studying electrical engineering. He interned for Nucor Steel in Tennessee in the summer of 2022 and plans to intern with the same company again at a rebar plant in Plymouth, Utah, this summer. He’s unsure where he will land after graduation, but he feels his heart will eventually pull him home.

“It would be great to end up working for an energy or power company in Butte,” McClernan said.

The Liberty Scholarship played a pivotal part in both students’ futures.

“Thank you for this amazing opportunity, for helping pay for our futures through our education, for opening doors for us, and for believing in the Butte community and our ability to succeed through Montana Tech,” McClernan and Doyle said.

FIRST CLASS OF LIBERTY SCHOLARS

Ravyn Goodwin
Jenna Hodges
Ty Insko
Myles McClernan
Haylee Powers
Isabelle Ralph-Puderbaugh