CLUB ESTABLISHES MINORITY SCHOLARSHIP IN MEMORY OF LATE UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL

A memorial scholarship has been established by the Professional Black Men's Club in honor of Edward M. Spicer.

The scholarship, maintained through the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation, will benefit the local Grow Your Own project, which cultivates minority students for careers in education.

Spicer was associate to the president at the university at the time of his death last month. He was a founder of the Professional Black Men's Club and an advocate of the Grow Your Own effort.

Students are targeted for the program by educators in the Cape Girardeau Public School system. Young people maintaining a B average in school starting in the eighth grade are eligible.

Club members will serve as mentors for students in the program and keep a close watch on their academic progress, according to Mack Wilson, club treasurer. In addition, the club will sponsor field trips and a Saturday Academics program for students.

In an arrangement established with the Cape Girardeau Public Schools, students who complete the Grow Your Own program will be given strong consideration for teaching openings that occur in their certification areas.

In return, those students getting jobs must teach four years in the school system. If they leave the district, they must pay back a portion of the money into the scholarship program.

Wilson said the club hopes the scholarship fund will grow to provide recipients a minimum of $1,000 a year. The club hopes to start disbursing scholarship funds two years from now to students that have been targeted for the program.

Persons wanting to contribute to the Spicer scholarship can send donations to: Grow Your Own project, University Foundation, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701.

For more information, persons can contact Melanie A. Murray, director of annual giving at the university, 651-2252, or Wilson, who works in the university agriculture department, 651-2811.