6 Brunswick High students earn Arbery scholarships

Awards given in honor of murdered Black jogger.

Six Brunswick High School seniors will receive thousands of dollars for their college education after being awarded scholarships by the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation.

Recipients of the $12,000 scholarships were selected Sunday on what would have been Arbery’s 28th birthday.

Arbery, a Black man, was fatally shot Feb. 23, 2020, after being chased through a neighborhood just outside Brunswick by three white men in pickup trucks. The three were convicted of murder at a state trial last year and sentenced to life in prison. In February, Travis Mcmichael, his father Greg and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were also convicted of federal hate crimes charges.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-jones, announced earlier this year that the nonprofit would award six $3,000 scholarships to young men of color at Brunswick High, where Arbery graduated in 2012.

The scholarships were initially set to help the students in their freshman year. Due to a surge in donations, however, the inaugural scholarship was increased to $12,000 per student, $3,000 for each year of college, the organization said.

In addition, the foundation is set to expand the number of scholarships next year for high school seniors across the U.S.

This year’s scholarships will be awarded May 23 during Scholarship Night at Brunswick High. The winners are set to attend Augusta University, Georgia State University, Lagrange College, Morehouse College and Reinhardt College.

The students selected were chosen by a scholarship committee consisting of teachers and coaches from Brunswick High, the foundation said Monday in a news release. Winners were required to maintain a high school GPA of at least 2.5 and receive a teacher’s recommendation. The recipients also wrote essays relating to Arbery’s life and their plans to honor him in college.

“This scholarship feels like the best way to honor my son’s memory and to support other young men that hail from the Brunswick community,” Cooper-jones said in a statement. “Due to the generosity of countless donors, we are happy to be able to support these young men throughout their college career.”

Those wishing to donate or learn more about the foundation can do so at ahmaudarberyfoundation.org.

COURTESY Ahmaud Arbery and his mother, Wanda Cooper-jones. A foundation in his honor has awarded $12,000 college scholarships to six Brunswick High School students.