Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Local students offered more than $13.9 million in scholarships

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WASHINGTON — More than 600 scholarship offers, totaling more than $13.9 million, were made to students from the greater Washington area today during the ninth annual Project Excellence/Freedom Forum Scholarship Day.

Carl T. Rowan, a veteran journalist who rose from poverty to a distinguished career as reporter, columnist, diplomat and government official, founded Project Excellence in 1987. The program provides scholarship assistance to academically talented black students from the greater Washington, D.C., area. Project Excellence Scholarships are awarded at an annual spring dinner, but the number of worthy students has always exceeded the funds available. So in 1994, Rowan developed the idea for the Project Excellence Scholarship Day college fair in partnership with The Freedom Forum, in order to match more students with colleges seeking to enroll capable black students. Rowan died in 2000 from diabetes-related ailments.

“These young people will be our next generation of leaders,” said Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of The Freedom Forum. “The Freedom Forum is proud to help them succeed.”

Officials from many of the nation’s best colleges and universities made on-the-spot offers to students from public, private and parochial schools in the District of Columbia, the city of Alexandria in Virginia, Fairfax and Arlington counties in Virginia, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. To participate, students had to be nominated by their schools and have at least a 3.2 (out of 4.0) grade-point average.

“The matching of great colleges and universities, all of which are looking to expand the diversity of their student populations, with this pool of talented students is a tremendous win-win opportunity,” said Jeffrey Rowan, president of Project Excellence.

The colleges and universities set up recruiting booths at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Guidance counselors and parents accompanied some students but waited on the sidelines while students spoke with the recruiters. Many walked out with multiple scholarship offers or enjoyed the chance to create a personal connection with recruiters from over 40 colleges and universities.

“It’s such a great opportunity for me to be able to talk to all these representatives from such distinguished schools,” Kent Robertson, a senior at Frederick Douglass High School in Upper Marlboro, Md., said. “This is a great way for me to open up the lines of communication with the universities that I am interested in. Everyone has been so generous.”

Parents also were excited about the opportunity that their children might receive scholarships that could potentially pay for their entire college expenses.

“I am so proud that my daughter Brandi has this tremendous opportunity to speak with these top notch schools that she normally would not be able to even consider,” said Denise Cherry from Poolesville, Md. “Coming from a single parent home, money is an issue for us, and Project Excellence has given us this grand opportunity. Carl Rowan is a great man for starting this program. He was an exemplary figure with in the Black community.”

High school counselors were on hand with several of their most promising senior students encouraging them to explore a wide variety of universities.

Taleesa Osborne, an adviser at Largo High School in Largo, Md., brought 15 seniors with her. “All my students are so excited to be here,” she said. “They have been preparing for about three weeks now, organizing their resumes and recommendations.”

Brandon Laguna, senior assistant director of admissions for Ball State University has been recruiting students at Project Excellence for the past four years. “Today surpassed any of our expectations,” he said. “The quality of students here is always excellent. We want to come back here every year.”

Since its inception, Project Excellence Scholarship Day has generated more than 2,900 scholarship offers amounting to more than $80.5 million. Among the colleges and universities represented this year were Princeton University, Duke University, Cornell University, College of William and Mary, Morehouse College, Vanderbilt University, Ohio State University and the U.S. Naval Academy. Local colleges and universities attending included American University, George Washington University, Howard University and Catholic University.

The Freedom Forum has contributed more than $2.6 million to Project Excellence over the last 15 years, including a $1 million endowment that supports ongoing scholarships to college-bound black students who plan to study journalism. Promoting diversity in the nation’s newspaper newsrooms is one of The Freedom Forum’s top institutional priorities.

For more information about Project Excellence, please contact Pam Paroline or Marian Lobred at 202/966-7888.

For more information about The Freedom Forum, please contact Donna Fowler at 703/284-2887.