Meadowdale Career Technology Center senior Caden Wade, described as a strong student driven by his curiosity and desire to help people around him reach their full potential, was selected for the prestigious W.S. McIntosh Memorial Leadership Award.

The award provides full tuition, room and board to the University of Dayton and a four-year paid internship with the city of Dayton.

It honors W.S. McIntosh, a civil rights leader in Dayton in the 1960s. McIntosh led one of the first major civil rights protests in Dayton, organized community groups and was executive director of the Dayton chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality. He was shot and killed while trying to prevent a robbery at a downtown jewelry store March 4, 1974.

“I am inspired by the legacy of McIntosh and hope to live up to the ideals that made him such a great leader,” Wade told the scholarship selection committee.

Wade serves the community through the Wayman AME Church. He tutors first and second grade students in reading and math. He researched how computer programming and technology can be used to create affordable housing solutions as part of the University’s Discover Entrepreneurship Program. A member of the baseball team, Wade also is secretary for the National Honor Society and an honor roll student for three years at Meadowdale. He plans to pursue a computer science degree at UD.

McIntosh scholars are committed to the ideals of social justice and demonstrate potential for community leadership. The goal of the program, established in 1987 by UD professor Pat Palermo and city of Dayton human resources analyst Mike Herrlein, is to encourage local students to attend UD and stay in the area after graduation by supporting their education and helping them develop professional experience while in school. 

More information on the McIntosh Scholarship is available on the University’s website.