Black Scholar Awards

University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881

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Black Scholar Awards Categories

William Gould Award for All-Around Outstanding Achievement

 

William GouldClass of 1958

The Gould Award is presented to a senior in recognition of all-around outstanding achievement in the following areas:

  • Organizational Leadership and Participation: The student has held positions of leadership in organizations and/or programs; and he/she has carried out those functions skillfully and successfully for the benefit of others.
  • Peer Relationships: The student has volunteered his/her abilities in the area of peer counseling, academic tutoring and/or other activities helpful to students in the University community, and is respected by his/her peers.
  • General Services: The student has planned, initiated and/or coordinated activities within the University community relevant to furthering the strength and visibility of Black students, programs, organizations, etc.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty.

Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Outstanding Leadership and Contribution to the University Community

 

Martin Luther King

The King Award is presented to a senior in recognition of outstanding service in the following areas:

  • Organizational Leadership and Participation: The student has held positions of leadership in organizations and/or participated in programs; and he/she has carried out those functions skillfully and successfully for the benefit of others.
  • Volunteer: The student has volunteered his/her services in the area of peer counseling, academic tutoring and/or other activities helpful to persons in the University community.
  • General Service: The student has planned, initiated and/or coordinated activities within the University community relevant to the University community.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty to further their leadership efforts and contribute to the University community.

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Harvey Robert Turner Outstanding Service to the University of Rhode Island Black Community Award

 

Harvery Robert TurnerClass of 1914

The Turner Award is presented to the senior who has made a significant contribution to the Black community of the University through activities which demonstrated a commitment to the community’s growth and recognition by others. The student must achieve in the following areas:

  • Organizational Leadership and Participation: The student he/she has held positions of leadership in organizations and/or participated in programs; and has carried out those functions skillfully and successfully for the benefit of the University’s Black community.
  • Peer Relationships: The student has volunteered his/her abilities in the area of peer counseling, academic tutoring and/or other activities helpful to students in the University’s Black community, and is respected by his/her peers, especially black students.
  • General Services: The student has planned, initiated and/or coordinated activities within the University community relevant to furthering the strength and visibility of Black students, programs, organizations, etc.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty to further the goals of the Black community at the University.

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Reverend Arthur L. Hardge Award for Outstanding Community Service

 

Arthur L. Hardge

The Hardge Award is presented to the senior demonstrating outstanding service to the Black community outside the University. The student must achieve in the following areas:

  • Organizational Leadership and Participation: The student has held positions of leadership in organizations and/or participated in programs; and he/she has carried out those functions skillfully and successfully for the benefit of the off-campus Black community.
  • Volunteer Service: The student has volunteered his/her services in other activities helpful the off-campus Black community.
  • General Service: The student has planned, initiated and/or coordinated activities within the off-campus Black community relevant to its growth and development.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty regarding their efforts to serve the off-campus Black community.

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Noreen Coachman Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Older Student

 

Noreen CoachmanClass of 1973

The Coachman Award is presented to a senior who has achieved excellence in academic and extracurricular life while maintaining work and family responsibilities. The student must achieve in the following areas:

  • Organizational Leadership and Participation: The student has held positions of leadership in organizations and/or participated in programs and has carried out those functions skillfully and successfully for the benefit of others, especially the Black community.
  • Family and Work Responsibilities: The student has demonstrated success in work related responsibilities and family duties.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty to further the goals of the Black community at the University.

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Estes BensonClass of 1979

Estes Benson Award for Academic Achievement

The Benson Awards are presented to a male and a female senior
with the highest overall academic achievement based on
grade point average.

(Merit Based-Grade Point Average
provided by Office of Enrollment Services)

 

 

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Sojourner Truth Award for Scholarly Persistence and Dedication

 

Sojourner Truth

The Truth Award is presented to a senior who has succeeded in spite of dire financial, physical and/or personal problems that would ordinarily impede progress. The student must have achieved in the following areas:

  • Extracurricular Activities: The student has been involved in organizations and/or programs for the benefit of others, especially the Black community.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty.

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Jackie Robinson and Althea Gibson Awards for Athletics

Althea Gibson These awards are given to a male (Robinson Award) and a female (Gibson Award) senior for participation in sports and distinguishing themselves in the following areas:

  • Athletic Participation: The student must have held or currently holds a position on a varsity or non-varsity athletic team or club sports. Students may have been or currently participate in non-traditional sports, such as, Jackie RobinsonCapoeira.Recipients do not have to be a current member of an athletic team or organization.
  • Volunteer Service: The student has volunteered his/her services in activities helpful to individuals, especially within the Black community.
  • Good Sportsmanship: The student has demonstrated attributes of good sportsmanship on and off the field through positive relationships with students, faculty, and staff, especially the Black community.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty.

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Saint Elmo Brady Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science

 

Saint Elmo Brady

The Brady Award is presented to the senior student with a high grade point average in the sciences and achieved the following:

  • Organizational Leadership and Participation: The student has held positions of leadership in science organizations and/or participated in programs; and he/she has carried out those functions skillfully and successfully for the benefit of others.
  • Peer Relationships: The student has volunteered his/her abilities in the area of peer counseling, academic tutoring and/or other activities helpful to students in science, and is respected by his/her peers, especially the black students.
  • General Services: The student has planned, initiated and/or coordinated activities to further the strength and visibility of Black science students, programs, organizations, etc.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty.

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Saint Clair Drake Award for Outstanding Scholarly Research

 

Saint Clair Drake

The Drake Award is presented to a senior who has demonstrated the best aspects of scholarly research through the development, execution, and completion of a scholarly research project.

  • Scholarly Research: The student has planned, initiated and completed independently or collaboratively an outstanding scholarly research project which may have been published and/or presented at a scholarly meeting or part of a course requirement/graduation requirement.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty.

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David Edmonds Award for Outstanding Artistic and Creative Expression

 

David EdmondsClass of 1964

The Edmonds Award is presented to a senior who has demonstrated excellence as well as originality and creativity in the arts. The student must achieve in the following areas:

  • Creative Expression: The student has created, designed and/or developed unique and original artistic works via any medium of expression.
  • Competition and/or Exhibition: The student’s work must have been adjudicated and/or presented in an appropriate forum such as competition, gallery exhibition, etc.
  • Academic Performance: Student nominees must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average; and senior standing of 90 credits.
  • Relationships with Faculty: The student has skillfully and successfully worked with and/or engaged Black faculty.

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Black Scholar Awards Call For Nomination

URI HONORS STUDENTS AT 17TH ANNUAL BLACK SCHOLAR AWARDS

Read the Official News Release

2014 BLACK SCHOLAR AWARDS

Congratulations to all the 2014 BSA recipients!

SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT EUGENIO FERNANDEZ JR. ’13

May 6, 2013- Balancing four majors would make most students wince, but Eugenio Fernandez Jr. found a way to do just that, while still enjoying his college years at the University of Rhode Island. Fernandez will graduate with a doctor of pharmacy degree, master of business administration, bachelor's degree in biology, and a bachelor's degree in psychology. Oh, and he is also fluent in Spanish. ...Read the article...
MEET MORE SCHOLARS...

IN THE NEWS

URI Grad Students Marry

Bryana White and Marc Hardge
Bryana White, a URI Psychology Ph.D. candidate, was married to Marc Hardge, a URI English graduate student and '99 Hardge Award recipient, at the Johnson and Wales Inn, Seekonk, Massachusetts on December 29, 2011.


Booker Urges Class of 2011 to Stand Tall

Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Bookerdelivered an inspiring message to graduates as the 2011 URI commencement speaker. Read the full story

PAST AWARD CEREMONIES









BSA NAMESAKES

Who is... Noreen Coachman?

Bryana White and Marc Hardge She earned a bachelor's degree from URI in 1973, and an M.D. from Brown University Medical School in 1984. Before her death at a young age from cancer, she was a staff physician in radiation oncology at Roger Williams Medical Center and a clinical instructor at Brown University. As a recipient of the American Cancer Society's Clinical Oncology Award, she specialized in radiation therapy for locally advanced prostate cancer and in combined modality treatment with chemotherapy in locally advanced head, neck, and pancreatic cancers.

William Gould?

Bryana White and Marc Hardge His great-grandfather (also William Gould) escaped slavery in 1862 by rowing to a Union gunboat patrolling off the coast of Wilmington, NC. William Gould IV (Class of '58), has written a book about this and other exploits. Read more...

Reverend Arthur Hardge?

Bryana White and Marc Hardge He was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, arrested and jailed in Florida for refusing to leave a restaurant reserved for whites and later becoming the first black man in Rhode Island to head a state agency. Read more...

Harvey Robert Turner?

Bryana White and Marc Hardge He was the first Black graduate of the University of Rhode Island in 1914. He majored in civil engineering and was a member of the football and track teams. The 1936 alumni directory listed his occupation an assistant treasurer of Prairie View State College in Texas.

Estes Arnathia Benson?

Bryana White and Marc Hardge Estes Arnathia Benson (1956-1997) was a cum laude graduate in the class of 1978 at the University of Rhode Island. At the University, he starred in football. He received the Fifth Quarter Club Scholar Athlete Award. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. After graduating, he studied at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Subsequently, he received a Master of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University. Believing that work and travel were essential to his pursuit of knowledge; Estes spent a year in Israel on a kibbutz; a year in the Gulf of Mexico on an oil rig; and several years in various management positions in a variety of businesses, including providing affordable housing for inner-city residents. An actor and writer, he appeared in University productions, New York City Showcase Theatre, and Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities Legacy Series. He was the author of the Legacy drama, “Fighting to be American: Rhode Islander in the Civil War." As a volunteer throughout New England, he presented educational activities on drug and alcohol abuse to young people.

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