Nominations may be submitted online at the new Black Scholar Awards website, www.uri.edu/bsa, which provides information about the program, types of awards and previous recipients. Nominations are due by Feb. 16, 2011.
The Black Scholar Awards Committee will select winners from the nominees, and the awards will be presented at a special ceremony on Monday, April 4, 2011. This year, a former award recipient, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin ’99, will keynote the event. Abdul-Matin is now an author, social activist, youth mentor, and the regular sports contributor for The Takeaway, a national news radio show program of WNYC. His book, Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet, was released in November.
The Black Scholar Awards program offers an opportunity for administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community leaders to recognize student accomplishments in areas such as academic achievement, athletic achievement, scientific excellence, independent scholarly research, creative and artistic expression, community service, university service, and all-around achievement.
Started in 1998 by Black faculty members at URI, this was the first campus-wide program that acknowledged the service contributions by students to the black community on and off-campus. More than one hundred students who have made outstanding contributions to the university, state, and nation have been recognized.