UMES kicks off new scholarship campaign

By WESM News / Stephen Williams

PRINCESS ANNE, MD –

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The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) kicked off a campaign Wednesday morning to raise $250,000 towards student scholarships, in partnership with the Tom Joyner Foundation.

UMES was selected by the radio personality's Foundation to be the August 2009 School-of-the-Month. The Tom Joyner Foundation aims to help students overcome financial difficulties and stay enrolled at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country.

In addition, UMES will be featured on the nationally-syndicated radio program called "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" throughout the month of August 2009. It's part of a multi-faceted media campaign designed to encourage alumni, corporations, individuals and radio listeners to contribute to the university's scholarship fund.

At press conference on Wednesday announcing the event on the UMES campus, University President Thelma B. Thompson said that the need for the scholarship dollars was greater than ever - due to declining income for existing scholarship funds.

Dr. Thompson said that $42,500 has already been raised so far towards the $250,000 goal. And before the ceremony was over several members of the University community had publicly pledged an additional $10,000 towards the scholarship fund. The event concluded with a raffle featuring giveaways of Tom Joyner books and T-shirts.

I asked Dr. Thompson about her thoughts on the kickoff celebration that took place yesterday:

Dr. Thompson: I thought the kick-off celebration went well. I thought it was added attractions to have refreshments and giveaways. But it's a spirit of joy that it brings to the University after a little time of mourning here, which will be there. So I feel very good about it and I think the parade of thousand-dollar, five-hundred dollar gifts was probably the highlight. I felt as if I was in a church.

Some of the other speakers at the kick-off event included a member of the national UMES alumni association, a student representative, Delmarva Power Vice-President John Allen, and Maryland Delegate Rudolph C. Cane, representing District 37-A on the Eastern Shore.

After the kickoff celebration, I asked Delegate Cane what brought him to the event:

Delegate Cane: Well first, I went to school here. So this is home for me. And I think that anything that I can do to contribute to the future of the students here - it's my responsibility. So that's the reason I'm here.

Cane: And I think it's a terrible thing for students not to be able to become successful because of being a few dollars short. And if we have an agency like Tom Joyner's Foundation that's willing to assist us, I think we need to bite the bullet and also participate in helping these youngsters.

This is the second time the university has been selected as a School-of-the-Month for the Tom Joyner Foundation.

You can find more information on the scholarship campaign at the UMES website: http://www.umes.edu/