Sharks Get Scholarships To Become Golden Tigers
Twelve students pursuing a variety of majors were recently awarded full or partial transfer scholarships to attend Tuskegee University in Alabama.
The scholarships are a result of an articulation agreement between the two institutions. The agreement has been very fruitful for Miami Dade College students. It has yielded more than $2 million in scholarship funding since 2009.
Miami Dade College has articulation agreements with the State University System of Florida, as well as with 23 independent colleges and universities in Florida, 31 private colleges and universities across the country and two colleges in South America.
“It’s like making a treaty with another country,” said Fredric Toney, the assistant director of advisement services at North Campus, who initially contacted Tuskegee in 2005 about establishing an articulation agreement with MDC. “The agreement with Tuskegee provides assurance that MDC Associate in Arts degrees will be accepted in full transfer.”
Each year, Tuskegee, a historically black university that was established in 1881 by the late African-American social leader, Booker T. Washington, provides MDC with three Presidential scholarships good for tuition, room and board costs, and a flexible number of transfer scholarships that only cover tuition. Both scholarships also grant an $800 voucher for textbooks.
This year’s nominees for the Presidential scholarship are nursing major Guerly Alexis, mechanical engineering major Roberto Hernandez and economics major Stevens Bonhomme. The nominees for the Transfer Scholarship are Diana Joseph, Andre Williams, Jabril Lilly, Sandy Decembre, Gustavo Cardona, Tifphanie Young, Mickel Major, Stanley Tanis and Louvins Pierre, the Forum section editor for The Reporter.
Toney recently organized a meeting for current, potential and graduated students at North Campus to talk about Tuskegee’s rural setting. Prospective students had a chance to ease their trepidation about moving to a different city by hearing advice about housing, academics and student life. For example, student bus shuttles go to local urban centers in Auburn and Montgomery, providing a way for on-campus students to visit shopping centers, grocery stores and movie theatres.
Royan Reddie, who completed an associate’s degree in Pre-Med/Dentistry at North Campus before transferring to Tuskegee in 2012, believes Tuskegee chose him rather than him choosing Tuskegee.
“I say this because, along with the historical legacy and the academic programs that were offered, Tuskegee University showed an interest in me as a student,” said Reddie, who graduated from Tuskegee and was recently accepted to Meharry Medical College where he will be studying in June of 2015.
Miami Dade College graduates enrolled at Tuskegee have connected to internships at institutions related to their field of study. Reddie has found opportunities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine/Pathology.
Mario Morejón, a mechanical engineering student at Tuskegee, will be working at aerospace company United Technologies. Dwayne Clarke is currently in Tuskegee’s graduate school for computer science.
“Every student we send to Tuskegee from Miami Dade has graduated,” Toney said. “That’s testimony to the fact that Miami Dade College does prepare students to succeed at the next level.”
