Students of Jamaican Heritage Receive Scholarship Awards

Five students of Jamaican heritage, who are attending universities in the United States (US), are this year’s recipients of the Claude McKay Book Scholarship Award, valued at US$500 each.
They are Richard Campbell, Leiland Charles and Tatyani Falloon of Baltimore Metropolitan High School; Kimani Kirton, Morgan State University; and Charmaine Osborne of the University of Baltimore.
The awards were presented on Saturday night (June 5) at the 22nd anniversary celebrations and annual scholarship awards banquet of the Jamaican Association of Maryland (JAM) held at the Best Western Hotel in Baltimore.
Making the presentation, President of JAM, Rick Nugent, said that the scholarships are made in honour of Jamaica’s outstanding poet, Claude McKay. He pointed out that all five awardees achieved a grade point average above 3.0.
Mr. Nugent disclosed that over the past 19 years, JAM has awarded scholarships at a value of just over US$40,000. He said it is the association’s goal to increase the number of recipients to six next year.
He informed that over JAM’s 22-year history, it has worked to unite Jamaican nationals to support various projects in the island, and to assist in promoting and maintaining educational, cultural and social links between Jamaica and Maryland.
In her remarks, delegate of the Maryland House of Assembly and a founding member of JAM, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, lauded the association for 22 years of outstanding service to the state of Maryland.
She noted that the organisation, which was formed in 1988 out of a need to support Jamaicans affected by the devastation of Hurricane Gilbert, has grown to become one of the most outstanding bodies in Maryland.
“Over the past 22 years, JAM has continued to highlight Jamaica,” she said, noting that the organised trade and cultural exchanges between Jamaica and Maryland have been beneficial.
Jamaican-born Dean of the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Morgan State University, Dr. Joseph Whittaker, who delivered the main address, also lauded JAM for more than two decades of outstanding contribution to the state of Maryland, including involvement in and support for educational endeavours.
He noted that the annual scholarship “goes a long way to help prepare students of Jamaican parentage living in Maryland to further their education at the university level.”
Dr. Whittaker said that Jamaicans place a great value on education as a means of attaining economic and social mobility and that tradition has continued wherever Jamaicans reside around the world. He revealed that many of the Jamaican students enrolled at Morgan State University are among the top achievers.
He encouraged the recipients to look towards studying in fields that will be in demand in the future. “This will help position you, the recipients, to take advantage of the new career opportunities that will come on stream,” he said.
In addition to the scholarships, community service awards were presented to Information Attach