The Tom Joyner Foundation® announced the ‘Full Ride’ scholarship program that will cover all the expenses of one student planning to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the fall of 2017. “The cost of a college education isn’t getting any cheaper,” said Tom Joyner, chairman of his Foundation and host of the top-ranked nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning show. “So, I want to help a graduating high school senior with a chance to attend a black college to pursue their dreams.”
Past Full Ride Scholars have impressive backgrounds, including last year’s winner, Morgan Taylor Brown, of Fayetteville, Ga., who is attending Spelman College, pursuin her interests to become a psychiatrist. In 2015, JoAnna Jones of Ashville, North Carolina’s Buncombe County Early College High School is attending Winston-Salem State University, where she is pursuing a degree in nursing. Another winner is Titus Zeigler, who was a top student at Atlanta’s Henry W. Grady High School. The future trauma surgeon was a member of the Junior ROTC program, tutored kids at a local middle school and volunteered at the Atlanta Food Bank.
Blaine Robertson of Reserve, La. graduated from Howard University and he is pursuing his dream of teaching high school back home in Louisiana. Britney Wilson, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., also graduated from Howard University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Wilson, who passed the New York Bar exam, participated in the Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellowship where she worked with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program litigation team. Another one of our Full Ride Scholars Cheyenne Boyce graduated from Spelman College, where she was an international relations major who is fluent in Japanese. She spent a year working as a Fulbright Fellowship English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Malaysia.
Students will receive full tuition and stipends for up to 10 semesters to cover on-campus room and board and books. Students must meet the required academic standards each semester to renew the funds each year. Graduating high school seniors can apply for the scholarship by going to the Tom Joyner Foundation website at www.tomjoynerfoundation.org.
Students must have their schools mail their transcripts and recommendations to the Foundation at P.O. Box 630495, Irving, TX 75063-0495.
To be eligible, students must meet the following criteria:
1) A United States Citizen
2) Current high school seniors attending school in the United States (applicant must be anticipating completion of high school degree in the spring of 2017)
3) Minimum high school grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.00 grade scale, excluding home school studies) and Minimum SAT score of 1400 (combined math essay and verbal score) or ACT score of 30.
4) Applicants must apply and be accepted to an HBCU by July 1, 2017.
5) Applicants must have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular, or other activities.
The applications must be postmarked no later than January 20, 2017. Interviews will occur in March 2017.
For more information, contact Neil Foote, media relations, Tom Joyner Foundation, neil.foote@tomjoynerfoundation.org, 214-448-3765.
