(JAMAICA OBSERVER) A 19-year-old Jamaican girl has been selected among 63 students for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States, for the 2018/19 academic year.
Dillard University, in a release today, said political major Chevel Powell, who hails from Westmoreland, Jamaica, has been named a 2018 HBCU Competitiveness Scholar, the initiative’s highest student recognition. She is a graduate of Montego Bay High School for Girls and completed sixth form at the Manning’s School.
Dillard said Powell is only one of two scholars selected from New Orleans and the fifth Dillard student selected since 2014.
Selected from a roster of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, Competitiveness Scholars are nominated and endorsed by their respective institutuion’s presidents based on academic achievement, campus and civic involvement and entrepreneurial ethos or “go-getter” spirit, the release said.
In the release, Dillard University President Walter M Kimbrough, PhD said Powell has had “a stellar career” at the university.
“From serving as a resident assistant to being a member of our nationally ranked mock trial team, she has been consistently excellent,” Kimbrough said.
The 63 Competitiveness Scholars will assemble September 16-18, at the 2018 National HBCU Week Conference held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, in Washington DC, and will receive their recognition during the conference on the evening of September 17, at the Initiative’s Excellence in Innovation and Competitiveness Awards.
Powell describes herself as someone who prides themselves on academics, the university said.
“I hope that this experience will enhance my leadership skills and allow me to make connections that will not only be personally beneficial but beneficial for Dillard as well,” the Westmoreland native said.
