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Hillsborough trustees split over whether Lila Murphy scholarship should fund one student or several
Summary
Trustees voted 2–1 to continue distributing the Lila Murphy scholarship to multiple students and table further discussion after members disagreed about whether the trust language requires a single recipient.
HILLSBOROUGH, N.H. — The Hillsborough Trustees of the Trust Funds voted 2–1 on Sept. 12 to continue the long-standing practice of dividing the Lila Murphy scholarship among multiple students and to table further debate.
The dispute centered on competing readings of the trust document and practical concerns about award size. Trustee Judy Ann Thibault argued trustees should follow the trust "exactly as it is written" and change the approach so the scholarship goes to only one student. Trustee Lori Adams said she preferred maintaining the current practice of awarding multiple students, noting that a single scholarship would be "approximately $24,000 in 2024," an amount she said would make multi-recipient awards more appropriate and consistent with prior practice. Trustee Riché Colcombe said he saw merits in both positions.
Lori Adams moved to continue the current practice of distributing the scholarship to multiple students and to table further discussion indefinitely; Riché Colcombe seconded. The motion carried 2–1, with Thibault voting against. The minutes record that Ms. Murphy's attorney and family provided evidence suggesting Ms. Murphy intended distribution to more than one student.
By tabling the issue, trustees left in place the existing process for selecting and awarding multiple recipients; the minutes do not identify any immediate changes to the scholarship selection criteria or distribution schedule. The trustees did not set a future date to revisit the trust language.
The decision matters to prospective applicants and the Hillsborough scholarship program because splitting the award preserves smaller, multiple scholarships rather than awarding a single, larger sum to one recipient.
