The Chapel Hill High School-Lincoln High School Joint Alumni Association will honor two local graduating high school students for “building bridges across racial lines.” The deadline for applicants is March 15.
Since the Chapel Hill High School-Lincoln High School Join Alumni Association is made of graduates from Chapel Hill High School and Lincoln High School, an all-black school in Chapel Hill that closed in 1966 during desegregation, the award specifically honors students improving multiculturalism in the community. Of the two awarded students, one will be white and one will be African-American. Both will receive $1,000.
“We are looking for something that students did that was helping to bridge the gap between the communities—just volunteering in their own community or any community in town—and not something they were doing for pay or anything else, but just because it was the right thing to do,” association member and Chapel Hill alumnus Richard Ellington said.
Unlike academic scholarships, the joint alumni association wants to emphasize the importance of community work.
“We didn’t want to call it a scholarship, because we didn’t want it to be based on scholarship, we wanted it to be based on what the students were doing within their community,” Ellington said.
The association is considering expanding the award next year.
Applications are available in the counseling office and may be submitted electronically to psf@chccs.k12.nc.us. Applicants must complete an essay prompt, provide evidence of their service and include two letters of recommendation.
