SEMO's George Floyd scholarship renamed, criteria set

The new Southeast Missouri State University scholarship — founded in reaction to the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police — now has a new name.

The scholarship is now known as the Scholarship for Advocacy, Equity and Justice, Southeast president Carlos Vargas informed Southeast’s Board of Regents this week.

Vargas and his wife, Pam, were the first donors to this award — previously known as the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship — which created at Southeast within a week after the 46-year-old Floyd’s death.

The scholarship is expected to be awarded for the first time in the Fall 2020 semester and qualified incoming full-time Southeast students, either freshman or transfer, are eligible.

To qualify, a student must carry a minimum 2.75 cumulative high school or transfer grade point average. Priority will be given to minority applicants, specifically those “underrepresented in Southeast’s student population,” or who have overcome socioeconomic or other disadvantages or who are the first generation from their family to attend college.

The scholarship, Vargas said, “underscores (Southeast’s) ongoing commitment to making (the university) a just and equitable institution.”

The change in name was prompted by, according to a university news release, “recent developments ... and the need to broaden the award to recognize those who champion justice and the far-reaching need for advocacy, equity and justice for all.”

Vargas said Floyd’s death is not the only reason fueling creation of the award at Southeast, noting the slayings of three other African Americans — Breonna Taylor of Louisville, Kentucky, on March 13; Ahmaud Arbery of Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23; and Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.

As of Tuesday, $6,143.46 has been contributed to the new scholarship from 35 donors, according to Southeast’s Advancement office.

Vargas told the Southeast Missourian earlier this month that it takes $10,000 to endow an award of this kind and no monies from the university’s budget are being utilized.

For more information, visit semo.edu/give or call Southeast Advancement at (573) 651-2332.