Guyanese family establishes $5,000 scholarship
By Tangerine Clarke
A scholarship award totaling
US$5,000, the equivalent of $1
million Guyana dollars, will be
awarded annually to a meritorious
student who aspires to study
at the University of Guyana,
compliments of the McGowan
family, who is taking a huge step
further in its decades-old commitment
to community service.
The McGowan Scholarship
— established by the Guyaneseborn
family living in New York
— will be awarded to a full-time
and matriculated student, based
on verifiable financial need and
involvement in community
activities.
Lourdeth Ferguson, chairperson
of the group, told Caribbean
Life that in an effort to contribute
to the development of young
people in Guyana, the McGowan
Scholarship was established in
partnership with the University
of Guyana specifically for students
who intend to study at the
university.
As such, only students residing
in Guyana from age 17-30,
and who have completed 25
hours of volunteer community
service each semester for the
period of the award, and not a
holder or recipient of any other
scholarship covering tuition and
fees, qualify for the bursary.
An initial award of US$
2,500.00/GYD$500,000.00, will
be dispersed in September 2021
to the university on behalf of the
selected candidate.
Along with the acceptance
requirements of the university
Caribbean L 20 ife, JULY 16-22, 2021
to the particular program,
a cumulative GPA of 3.0 is
required to be eligible for the
second allotment of the scholarship
in 2023.
The student must maintain
good academic standing with
the university and must also
be involved in extracurricular
activities.
Applicants are required to
write a 500 word essay detailing
their long-term educational
goals and what unique qualities
make them a candidate for this
award.
They are also required to submit
along with the essay a passport
sized photograph (Digital),
two letters of recommendation
from a non-relative, and an
acceptance letter to the University
of Guyana.
Completed applications
should be submitted in email to:
mcgowanscholarship@gmail.
com on or before, Sept. 10, 2021.
Shortlisted candidates will be
interviewed and a final selection
made by Sept. 30, 2021.
The benevolent family committed
to education, invited and
graciously received contributions
from relatives across the
diaspora, for the first scholarship
launched in June 2021, in
New York.
Ferguson, an executive board
officer, in the Population Fund
— Reproductive Health Agency
— at the United Nations, who
has piloted the program with
relatives since 2015, said the
family committee that conceptualizes
and coordinates reunions
and other activities and
projects, recently organized a
successful “Curry Q” take-out
to raise supplementary funds for
the scholarship.
She shared that the McGowan
family members have individually
and tirelessly worked
within organizations and served
in both the diaspora and in Guyana.
The McGowan family is photographed at their 2015 family reunion in Barbados. Chair of the
committee, Lourdeth Ferguson, is standing at extreme right. McGowan family
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