TC to receive donation for Black scholarships
TEXARKANA, Texas — The Robert Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at Texarkana College will receive a donation from the Colored Library Scholarship fund in the amount of $11,436 at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Carl M. Nelson Administration Building.
The donation will be presented to the Texarkana College Foundation by Melva Flowers, president of the Texarkana Pan Hellenic Council, which has been the distributor of the Colored Library Scholarship for 42 years.
The Colored Library scholarship was established in 1978 with revenue from its sale to the Texarkana Public Library to make way to build a new facility at 600 W. 3rd St., where the Colored Library stood.
Members of the Texarkana Pan Hellenic Council, including Authur D. McNeil, a member of Beta Tau Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity; Helen Mitchell, a member of Gamma Kappa Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.; and members of Beta Tau Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity, Inc.; established the scholarship fund to benefit the education of African American students in the community.
Jo Ann Rice, spokesperson for the Colored Library Scholarship fund, said members of the Texarkana Pan Hellenic Council decided to dissolve the endowed fund due to declining interest rates.
“We are no longer earning enough interest on our endowed funds to award scholarships as we have done for over 40 years,” Rice said. “The scholarship was founded to help African American students with their pursuit of education, and we are proud to continue this support by donating our funds to the Robert Jones Endowed Scholarship fund at Texarkana College.”
She called Jones a “dedicated servant leader,” who has been a member of the Pan Hellenic Council in Texarkana for many years. She said the scholarship fund established in his honor is the best place “for us to continue the legacy of education for African American students.”
Weather permitting, the check presentation ceremony will take place on the Administration Building lawn. All guests must enter through the COVID-19 screening station located in the front parking lot on Robison Road.