City Intern Earns Scholarship for Public Administration Program

Current City of Atchison intern and Benedictine College senior Olivia Ortiz was awarded the Virgil Basgall Scholarship for next year as she is preparing to attend the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration. Ortiz has been a management intern with the city since Spring of 2021.

Ortiz is planning to pursue a Master’s in Public Administration, with an emphasis on city/county management.

“This is a well-deserved honor for a fantastic intern who will no doubt make a great city manager one day,” Atchison City Manager Amy Finch said.

Ortiz has taken on such tasks as running the city’s Citizen’s Academy, supporting and filling in for the city clerk, researching policy issues, and teaching staff newer technology. Ortiz is graduating from Benedictine with majors in Political Science and Philosophy.

The scholarship was awarded recently as part of the Kansas City/County Management Conference at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.