by Elizabeth Ashford
Staff Writer
Appalachian State University offers scholarships opportunities to
students every year.
One of these scholarships is a diversity scholarship for incoming
freshmen. The winner for the 2003-04 school year was Erin L. Kirkpatrick.
“I like it a lot; it’s made me more aware of the minorities
at Appalachian. I’ve definitely got more involved in women’s
needs and multicultural needs because I got this scholarship,”
Kirkpatrick said.
According to the scholarship’s requirements, the scholarship
is awarded to selected students entering Appalachian, with emphasis
on students from under-represented groups. However, students from
all ethnic backgrounds who can contribute diversity to the campus
are considered for the scholarship.
Some multicultural clubs on campus also plan to raise money to create
another diversity scholarship for Appalachian students.
“We’re trying to get something together now with all
of the individuals from multicultural organizations and black faculty
and staff to create an actual diversity scholarship that will be
more conducive to individuals of multicultural heritage,”
Appalachian’s National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People President Tenina W. Stallings said.
In addition to Appalachian’s diversity scholarship, there
are many other national multicultural scholarships available to
minority students.
The NAACP offers the Agnes Jones Jackson Scholarship. It is available
for any full time undergraduate who has a 2.5 GPA or higher. The
student must be a current NAACP member who can demonstrate a financial
need for the scholarship.
“I think the national NAACP scholarships will be a good opportunity
for individuals of multicultural backgrounds to further educate
themselves by getting into the programs and writing letters and
receiving the scholarship so they can better their education,”
Stallings said.
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) gave $26 million to Latino students
during the 2002-2003 academic year and has many scholarship opportunities
available for students of Hispanic heritage.
Applicants for the HSF scholarship must be United States citizens,
have at least 12 undergraduate college credits, a 3.0 GPA and be
full-time students at a four-year college or university.
“I think Latinos should go for these scholarships because
they are created specifically for them,” Appalachian’s
Hispanic Student Association president Laura B. Limon said.
Limon also said that Latino students should apply for the HSF scholarship
if college would be too much of a financial burden.
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