Avery Scholars look toward future with past in mind

C of C awards scholarships to expand reach

Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier

College of Charleston freshman Thomas Savage of Columbia takes a tour of the Avery Research Center on Bull Street during a luncheon reception Monday honoring students who have been awarded Avery Scholarships.

C of C awards scholarships to expand reach

College of Charleston students begin classes today with more than 20 Avery Scholars among their ranks.

The college Monday launched the Avery scholarship program, which gives $3,000 annual awards to qualified students who are minorities, low-income or among the first generation in their families to attend college, said Donald Burkard, the college's associate vice president for enrollment and planning.

"The ultimate goal is to reach out into South Carolina to areas underrepresented at the College of Charleston," he said.

Students in two other programs designed to boost minority enrollment — the Presidential Community Enhancement Grant program and Call Me Mister — also attended a luncheon and reception along with the new scholarship students Monday at the Avery Research Center.

Fifteen percent of students in the college's incoming freshman class are minorities, Burkard said. Black students make up 6 percent of the class.

Octavia Harris, a freshman from Columbia, received both a $3,000 Avery scholarship and a $2,500 Presidential Community Enhancement Grant. She earned, on top of that, a $6,700 Palmetto Fellows scholarship, the state's largest merit-based award.

"Without scholarship money, I doubt I would be able to afford the College of Charleston," she said.

With all of her aid and scholarships, "my first year will be free," she said.

T.J. Fielder, a freshman from Orlando, Fla., also earned both awards. For Fielder, who graduated in top 5 percent of his high school class, landing grants "means the opportunity for higher education and a boost to a better life."

Liza Hyde, 25, who is married and the mother of a 16-month-old son, took a slower road to the four-year college. She first completed an associate degree at Trident Technical College. Hyde already had planned to pay for some of her tuition with a loan when she learned she had been awarded an Avery scholarship. "I got to cancel my loan," she said.

That's important because she'd like to eventually attend dental school, and she doesn't want to incur a lot of debt during her undergraduate years.

Burkard said the college is paying for the scholarships, $250,000 over four years, with institutional funds. It's not using state-funded need-based grant money.

The college is using the Avery name for the awards "because Avery is a powerful symbol," he said. The Avery Normal School, which opened in 1865, gave black students an opportunity for education. The Avery Research Center collects, preserves and documents the history and culture of blacks in Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry.

The Avery Scholars program "provides an opportunity for some kids who might not have the opportunity in South Carolina," Burkard said.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.