On MLK Jr. Day, Education In The Forefront: Wilmington Mayor And HBCU Week Foundation Announce Scholarship Program

Press release from the City of Wilmington:

January 18, 2021

160 scholarships totaling $6.1M are available; application deadline is Feb. 15. Don’t Delay. Apply for an HBCU Scholarship today at: www.HBCUWeek.org

In an announcement fitting for the annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Mayor Mike Purzycki and Wilmington’s HBCU Week Foundation today announced the availability of 160 scholarships for high school seniors who are interested in attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).

Dr. King wrote a 1947 article entitled “The Purpose of Education” which was printed in the Morehouse College campus newspaper, The Maroon Tiger. In part, Dr. King wrote, “We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.”

The HBCU Week Foundation is partnering with the National Football League and Capital One, as well as the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), The American Chemistry Council (ACC), and Chemours to offer $6.1 million in scholarship aid to eligible students who commit to studying at an HBCU in the fall. Scholarship details, including how to apply by the February 15 deadline, can be found later in this news release.

“We launched HBCU Week in 2017 to expose local high school students to the history, pride, and academic offerings of HBCUs, and to encourage young people to attain new levels of educational achievement,” said Mayor Purzycki. “We have been successful beyond our wildest expectations due to an outpouring of support for our students, who crave more educational opportunities, and due to the generous participation of our HBCU Ambassador, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith who, along with Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, has helped bring national prominence to our annual HBCU Week event. ”

HBCU Week 2020 was mostly virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of participating HBCUs and sponsors, or the students who attended to advance their quest for a quality higher education. Since 2017, Mayor Purzycki noted that participating HBCUs have granted more than 2,000 admission opportunities to local students and have awarded more than $11.5 million in scholarships.

HBCU Week in partnership with NFL Scholarship

Who: High School Seniors who are interested in attending an HBCU
What: The NFL is offering seven (7), one-time, $10,000 scholarships to students who have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and commit to an HBCU. There is no specific area of study required.
When: Students have up until Monday, February 15, 2021, to apply.
How to apply: Visit www.HBCUWeek.org to apply.

HBCU Week in partnership with Capital One Scholarship

Who: High School Seniors who are interested in attending an HBCU
What: Capital One is offering three (3), one-time, $10,000 scholarships to students who have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and commit to an HBCU. There is no specific area of study required.
When: Students have up until Monday, February 15, 2021, to apply.
How to apply: Visit www.HBCUWeek.org to apply.

FOSSI (Future of STEM Scholars Initiative)

Who: High School Seniors interested in attending an HBCU and who plan to declare a STEM major
What: Member companies of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) are offering 150 $40,000 scholarships ($10,000 per year for 4 years) to qualifying students who have a minimum GPA of 3.0, commit to an HBCU, and declare a STEM major. This Future of STEM Scholars Initiative (FOSSI), is a collaboration between the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), The American Chemistry Council (ACC), Chemours, and The HBCU Week Foundation aimed at creating pathways for more underrepresented groups to enter and succeed in STEM careers within the chemical industry.

Students can apply until Monday, February 15, 2021.

Don’t Delay. Apply for an HBCU Scholarship today at: www.HBCUWeek.org

For more information, please contact Ashley Christopher at achristopher@hbcuweek.org

Here is more of the article written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1947, as printed in The Maroon Tiger, the campus newspaper at Morehouse College:

“It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half-truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.”

The complete article can be found online here.

This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.