CMC of Westfield Awards $82,000 in Scholarships to 2025 WHS Grads
The College Men’s Club of Westfield (CMC) recently held a reception at the home of CMC Trustee, Terry O’Connor to honor the four 2025 recipients of the club’s multi-year college scholarships. Ryan Clark, CMC Scholarship Committee Chair, introduced this year’s scholarship winners and noted that “this year’s scholarship program was the most competitive in memory and that the recipients were selected based on their academic achievement, community involvement, financial need, and career direction.” The four young men graduated from Westfield High School as members of the Class of 2025 and include:
Niko Pierce who will attend William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. He plans to major in Finance, laying the foundation for a career in banking. Niko was awarded a $24,000, four-year CMC scholarship.
Griffin Scholder who will attend the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this Fall. He plans to study Finance & Accounting, with a long-term goal of working on Wall Street. Griffin was awarded a $24,000, four-year CMC scholarship.
Jake Stinton who plans to study Computer Science at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He hopes to pursue a career in software and game development. Jake was awarded a $24,000, four-year CMC scholarship.
Herman Krasnozhenov who will attend Union College in Cranford, New Jersey this Fall. He plans to study Cybersecurity, with a long-term goal of working in software development. Herman was awarded a $10,000, two-year CMC scholarship.
During the reception scholarship recipients from previous Westfield High School graduating classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024 shared updates on their academic and career progress. CMC President David Germond stated that the club’s Spring scholar’s reception is “the highlight of the year as the CMC trustees get to meet our newest class of awardees as well as learn about the latest achievements of previous CMC scholars.”
In addition to the multi-year scholarships, earlier this Spring the CMC awarded a WHS junior a one-time grant valued at $1,800 to fund one-on-one standardized test preparation courses conducted by CollegeWise.
The College Men’s Club of Westfield was founded in 1922 and over the past century has helped hundreds of Westfield young men by providing college tuition assistance and funding standardized test preparatory courses. Since its founding, the CMC has raised and distributed nearly $1.5 million in higher education assistance to young men of the Westfield community to attend over 130 institutions of higher learning. In 2025 the CMC awarded a total of $84,550 in multi-year scholarships and one-time grants.
Scholarship applications are available online at the CMC website and through the WHS guidance department in February of each year. Applications are evaluated by a committee of CMC Trustees each Spring. Funds for scholarships are generated through fund raising events, donations, membership dues, endowment investment income, and legacy bequests.
To learn more about the College Men’s Club of Westfield, please go to www.cmcwestfield.org.