Spelman scholarship announced in Mrs. King’s name
Bernice King graduated from Spelman College in 1985 with a degree and a commitment to one day establish a scholarship at her alma mater to help other women complete their studies.
Today, she kept her promise by establishing the Be A King scholarship at the nation’s pre-eminent liberal arts college for African-American women, in honor of her late mother, Coretta Scott King.
King died a year ago today from cancer and a heart attack.
For King and Spelman, the announcement was bittersweet.
“I never imagined it would happen when my mother was not here,” said King, the youngest child of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr. “But God has a mysterious way of moving.”
The endowed scholarship pays tribute to Coretta Scott King’s contributions to humanity, human rights and non-violent social change, said Bernice King, who holds a law degree and divinity degree from Emory University.
The endowment totals $189,000, with gifts of $100,000 from Bernice King, $75,000 from Home Depot and $14,000 from New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, where King is an elder. King hopes to grow the fund to $5 million in the next several years.
A year at Spelman, including living on campus, costs about $26,000, according to the school’s website.
The scholarship targets rising seniors and freshmen pursuing degrees in music, education, psychology and other areas of interest to Coretta Scott King, who held degrees in music and education.
It will be phased in over the next few years.
A pair of rising seniors will get partial scholarships of $7,500 each for 2007-2008. The next year, full scholarships, renewable annually, will go to two freshmen and partial ones to two seniors.
“I want them to have the freedom I had to study, focus and develop the great heritage that is inside them,” said Bernice King, who will be involved in selecting recipients.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
