New Year Proves Prosperous
by
LaTiffany Dean
Thousands of dollars have been donated to help students defray the cost of tuition. Most students said they were surprised by the help.
“It was a blessing,” said Rashida Housen, 19 year-old political science major of Ruleville. “Before I received the aid I felt discouraged because she kept saying she didn’t have much more money and if you had already completed registration, we were going to be at the bottom of the barrel because she was trying to help those students that weren’t in school yet.”
Housen said that after relying on faith, Edwina Harris Hamby, vice president for institutional advancement, called for political science majors. Housen received a Blackmon Scholarship in the amount of $1,833 to cover her remaining balance of $1,555 and $277 for books.
Another student, Tanoa Weddington, 18 year old psychology major from Prentiss, also said she was blessed. “It was such a blessing! I am so grateful,” Weddington said. “With the scholarship, all of my financial needs were covered for this semester including a balance I had from last semester.” Weddington received a Sidney Frank Scholarship.
Maria Thomas, director of financial aid, said the awards were not widely publicized because they wanted to help those students with the greatest needs. She said the funds were from the federal government, individuals, foundations and corporations.
Thomas says Hamby who chairs the Admission and Financial Aid Commission is responsible for issuing private funds to students in accordance with directions and guidance from the Commission. “No one who needed funds has been turned ways. Whether monies were pieced with a few $25 or $100 scholarships, the amount that students needed was found,” said Thomas.
Hamby says the bulk of the money was donated as a result of President Beverly Wade Hogan establishing the Student Aid Fund for Hurricane Katrina Victims. Hogan and Hamby have been appealing to foundations and corporations across the country to help students affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Some funds were contributed by Sidney Frank, Brown University, and the Mellon Foundation through the Southern Education Foundation. Sidney Frank was a student at Brown University who had to drop out of school because he did not have the funds to continue his education. Last year he established a scholarship program with 100 million dollars at Brown to ensure that no student would have to leave Brown due to lack of funds. He provided Brown University $300,000 to help Tougaloo students including the awarding twenty $5,000 Sidney Frank Scholarships. The Mellon Foundation donated $407,701 to the Southern Education Foundation to award Tougaloo College. Among the other donors were the Christian A. Endeavor Foundation and the Charles Fruehauff Foundation. The latter foundation also donated funds to upgrade the Holmes Hall auditorium. There have been donations from many others, but these are the major donations.
Over 200 students were helped this semester as a result of these funds and endowed scholarships. Hamby says this is the first time that such a large amount has been donated. There are criteria for receiving some of the funding and strict reporting guidelines must be followed. The hurricane-related funds required students to be from certain disaster areas. The majority of the awards are need-based. Endowed scholarships have specific criteria such as students to be majoring in certain disciplines, have specific grade point averages, be from certain locations, and be in good academic standing.
