The members of the Muskegon Community College Faculty Association, working with the Foundation for Muskegon Community College (FMCC), have voted to increase their union dues to establish a new faculty-funded Justice, Humanity, and Equality Scholarship for a budding student activist.
Open to incoming or current MCC students who have demonstrated a commitment to fighting injustice and racism in our institutions and our society, the scholarship provides the recipient with up to $2,000 per year ($1,000 per semester). The application deadline for the 2020-21 academic year is Sunday, Aug. 16. To apply, visit www.muskegoncc.edu/scholarships.
“The members of the Muskegon Community College Faculty Association denounce the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and of countless other men and women of color,” said MCC Faculty Association Vice President Hollie Benson in announcing the scholarship. “We deplore the injustice, inhumanity, and inequality that plague white Americans’ treatment of Americans of color. And we pledge to mindfully address these injustices, inhumanities, and inequalities in our professional practice and our personal lives.”
Scholarship Committee member Linda Hood pointed to observations made by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a half century ago as both a tragic present-day milestone and a catalyst for action.
“What is it that America has failed to hear?” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once asked in “The Other America,” a famous speech about unheeded grievances and social unrest. “It has failed to hear that [its] promises of justice and freedom have not been met. It has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, humanity, and equality.”
“The greatest tragedy of this failure to hear is that these words were spoken by Dr. King over fifty years ago, but the demands of Black Americans for justice, humanity, and equality echoing yet again in cities all across the United States are still unmet,” noted MCC Faculty Association member Conor Roddy.
Those individuals interested in donating to the Justice, Humanity, and Equality Scholarship can do so online at https://muskegoncc41594.thankyou4caring.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298
For more information, contact Hollie Benson at hollie.benson@muskegoncc.edu (231) 777-0331 or Conor Roddy at conor.roddy@muskegoncc.edu (231) 777-0297.