Purpose
The Black & Gold Initiative Foundation has established this scholarship for African American male students who are graduating high school seniors. The purpose of this scholarship is to financially assist the student in their pursuit of a post-secondary education.
The scholarship program is named after Arthur B. Cooper, a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Omega Chapter, former advisor to the college and graduate chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha in the central Illinois, and charter member of the Zeta Xi Lambda Chapter.
Award Amount: $2,000.00
Number of Awards Available: 7
Apply starting March 1, 2023. Click here to access the online application.
Criteria
A. Students
1. Must complete the 2023 Arthur B. Cooper Scholarship Application
2. Must be an African American graduating male from a high-school located in Champaign-Urbana, Danville, Rantoul, Charleston-Mattoon, and Decatur, IL.
3. Academic record (min 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale or equivalent). Submission of an unofficial school transcript will be required.
4. Graduating high school seniors must provide a copy of the acceptance letter from the 4-year college/university to which they plan to enroll. The copy must be enclosed with the application.
5. Submittal of one (1) essay or video from a list of topics provided by the Scholarship Committee.
All essays will be a minimum of 600 words and not exceed 1000 words. Essays must be typed utilizing Times New Roman styled font size 12, double-spaced, and error free. All essays must be submitted as an .PDF document.
All videos must be original and 90- seconds in length. It must be in a format compatible with YouTube, such as .WMV, .AVI, .MOV or .MPG.
6. Submittal of two (2) signed letters of recommendation, one from a school official such as an administrator, guidance counselor, teacher, or academic advisor and one from a person in the community (letters from relatives are strictly prohibited).
B. High Schools
1. Provide an unofficial copy of student's transcript.
2. Provide the student's class rank, ACT/SAT (if applicable) scores and GPA.
3. Counselor Verification Forms
ALL APPLICATIONS AND DOCUMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN April 28, 2023
Application Procedures
1. Interested students can apply starting March 1, 2023. Click here to access the online application.
2. All applications and supporting documents must be submitted electronically to The Black and Gold Initiative Foundation by April 28, 2023.
3. Only applications with Counselors verification emails will be accepted. The scholarship committee will select winners and recommend them to the Board of Directors.
4. Applicants will be notified by the scholarship committee. Scholarship recipients will be notified by May 8, 2023
5. Scholarship reception will take place on Saturday, June 10th 2023.
6. Contact us at [email protected] if you have questions or problems completing the application.
How To Support Arthur B. Cooper Scholarship Program
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