Quenden Hart, a 2025 Waterloo East High School graduate, is the recipient of Wartburg College’s Harry and Polly Slife Minority Scholarship.

Hart will major in business administration and hopes to someday work in cybersecurity. He is the son of Quentin and Cassandra Hart.

“Quenden has worked tirelessly to build his own path and achieve success on his own terms, which speaks to his independence and determination. Quenden possesses incredible untapped potential, and I have no doubt that he can achieve anything he sets his mind to,” Byron Phillips, the East High principal, wrote in his recommendation letter.

Hart was involved in basketball, football and track at East High and hopes to continue his basketball career at Wartburg. He also was involved in the audio ministry at Antioch Baptist Church and was a volunteer at the Jesse Cosby Neighborhood Center for several years.

“My ultimate goal is not only to improve my own financial future but also help others achieve their financial goals along the way,” he said. “I am excited and nervous about the next step, but I know Wartburg is the right place for me.”

The Slifes were Cedar Falls residents who died Jan. 2, 1994, in a car accident east of Decorah. The couple was honored in 1988 as Eastern Iowa’s “Outstanding Philanthropists.” Harry Slife had been president of Rath Packing Co. and Black Hawk Broadcasting (KWWL), was a state senator, served on the state Board of Regents (1973-79), and was a Wartburg regent (1980 until his death). Their memory lives on through a scholarship they and the college established that annually awards a full-tuition scholarship to one African American student from the Waterloo Community School District. Awards are renewable up to four years.