The University Consortium for Liberia, an Atlanta-based group that promotes educational partnerships in the West African nation, has extended its annual scholarship application deadline through July.
The previous deadline was May 15. Applicants must be Liberians or descendants of Liberians with at least a 3.0 grade point average, acceptance from a U.S. university and a visa to study in the United States. Preference will be given to students attending 13 partner institutions of the consortium. Eleven of those are in Georgia, including big names like Emory University and Georgia Tech.
The consortium was founded and is run by Liberia’s honorary consul general in Georgia, Cynthia Blandford, who has run regular trade missions between Georgia and Liberia for years.
In October 2015, then-Vice President Joseph Boakai visited Atlanta to rekindle ties and drum up new business ties on topics ranging from poultry to infrastructure.
That was the same year the scholarship was founded, though the consortium had started much earlier in 2009.
Mr. Boakai returned in 2016 for a gala hosted by Ms. Blandford to raise funds for the consortium’s support of youth programs in Liberia. A few months later, she took a group of Georgia officials and educators to visit their counterparts in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, where they met Mr. Boakai again.
During that trip, Ms. Blandford was honored with a University of Liberia Presidential Award of Excellence recognizing her work with the consortium, which has placed many Liberian students in Georgia universities.
Mr. Boakai was upset in the 2017 presidential elections after serving as vice president for more than 12 years under Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who visited Atlanta and spoke at a World Affairs Council of Atlanta breakfast in February.
This year’s scholarships range from $500 to $1,000 and one each will be awarded in the following categories: Science Technology Engineering or Math (STEM), athletics, liberal arts, general studies (a scholarship named in honor of Mr. Boakai) and experiential learning or service abroad (to be announced).
The scholarships are open to both previous recipients and new applicants. All must fill out an application form here.
Learn more at http://ucliberia.com/scholarships.
See all the partner institutions here:
1. Savannah State University
2. Morehouse College
3. Georgia State University
4. Emory University
5. The University of Georgia
6. Fort Valley State University
7. Clark Atlanta University
8. Georgia Institution of Technology
9. Alabama State University
10. Georgia Gwinnett College
11. Tuskegee University
12. Morehouse School of Medicine
13. Kennesaw State University
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