Meyerhoff Scholarship Program
Encyclopedia
The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program was founded at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 1988 with a grant from the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Foundation, under the guidance of future UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III. It is focused on minority
scholarship
and awareness in the science
, technology
, engineering
and math (STEM
) disciplines. The program has served as a model for fostering scholarship in the African American
community.
with an emphasis on minority interests in 1997. This was widely viewed as preemptive action in response to the outcome of protracted litigation levied at the Benjamin Banneker Scholarship Program, the first scholarship of its kind to be ruled unconstitutional (though the University of Maryland, College Park
did publicly contest the issue vigorously for years).
males with its companion volume on African American females published in the early 2000s.
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
and awareness in the science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and math (STEM
STEM fields
STEM fields is a US Government acronym for the fields of study in the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The acronym is in use regarding access to work visas for immigrants who are skilled in these fields. Maintaining a citizenry that is well versed in the STEM fields...
) disciplines. The program has served as a model for fostering scholarship in the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
community.
History
Female students of African American descent were admitted to the program as of its second year, and the program was opened up as a general scholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
with an emphasis on minority interests in 1997. This was widely viewed as preemptive action in response to the outcome of protracted litigation levied at the Benjamin Banneker Scholarship Program, the first scholarship of its kind to be ruled unconstitutional (though the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
did publicly contest the issue vigorously for years).
Overcoming the Odds
Two books chronicle the experiences and results of those affiliated with the program in its formative years. The first was written in the late 1990s with an emphasis on African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
males with its companion volume on African American females published in the early 2000s.
- Overcoming the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Young Women (2001), Freeman A. Hrabowski, Geoffrey L. Greif, Kenneth I. Maton, Monica L. Greene, Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Beating the Odds : Raising Academically Successful African American Males (1998), Freeman A. Hrabowski, Geoffrey L. Greif, Kenneth I. Maton, Publisher: Oxford University Press
In the Press
- Editorial: Why American College Students Hate Science (The New York Times, May 25, 2006)
- Paper: Preparing Minority Scientists and Engineers American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science 31 March 2006)
- Article: Fulfilling the Expectations of Excellence (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005)
- Article: Bound by generosity (The Baltimore Sun, November 2, 2005)
- Article: It's Cool to be Smart (Fast Company, 2002)