Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead is continuing his commitment to students through a personal contribution establishing a need-based scholarship fund, in honor of his parents, designed to help undergraduates study in the nation’s capital.
With nearly 7,000 students attending the university who are eligible for the Pell Grant, “raising support for need-based scholarships is one of my priorities,” Morehead said, “and I hope to lead the way for many others to help students with financial need.”
The federal Pell Grant program, run by the U.S. Department of Education, provides need-based grants mainly to low-income undergraduate students.
Through the scholarship fund, Morehead is paying tribute to the important role his parents have played in his life. The Wade and Virginia Morehead Scholarship Fund will be used to support students with demonstrated financial need who participate in the UGA Washington Semester Program. The program sends students to Washington, D.C., to intern and study with legislators, government agencies, and businesses that call the nation’s capital their home.
“The university’s initiative to raise need-based scholarships is critical in helping our undergraduate students meet the costs of attending our institution,” said Bonnie Joerschke, director of the UGA Office of Student Financial Aid. “President Morehead’s generous gift and others like it are important to providing access and educational opportunities like UGA’s Washington Semester Program.”
Morehead’s initial gift of $25,000 establishes the scholarship fund. Additional gifts will help the fund reach $100,000 over the next five years.
Students will be chosen for the scholarship based on financial need at the discretion of the program coordinator. Individual awards will vary from $1,000 to $2,000, and awardees will be known as Morehead Scholars.
In addition to his new pledge, Morehead has been a long-time financial supporter of the Morehead Honors Support Fund in the Honors Program and the Jere W. Morehead Moot Court Fund in the UGA School of Law.
For more information on the Georgia Access Need-based Scholarship Fund, see https://www.externalaffairs.uga.edu/index.php/gateway/info/need_based_scholarships. For more information on the Washington Semester Program, see http://dcsemester.uga.edu/.
