JACKSON, Tenn. — Feb. 19, 2021 — One of the things Beverly Absher-Bone loves most about the minority scholarship funds she and her late husband Keith established is hearing from students who benefit from them.
“The sweetest thing is that, without a doubt, every minority student has said to me, ‘Without this scholarship, I would not have been able to come to Union,’” Absher-Bone said. “It brings me to tears every time I read a note like that.”
The Absher Minority Business Scholarship Fund is just one of the scholarships available at Union University for black and other minority students. Catherine Kwasigroh, Union’s vice president for institutional advancement, said that as the nation observes Black History Month in February, it’s an opportune time for people to contribute to Union’s existing scholarships for black students or establish new scholarships.
“At Union, we’re committed to doing everything we can do to help students come to Union who want to be here,” Kwasigroh said. “What better way to make a difference in the life of a deserving student than to help make a Union education possible?”
John Adams, who retired as Union’s vice president for religious affairs, and his wife Robbie established the Dr. John and Robbie Adams Minority Scholarship Fund in 1989 for ministry students. Adams said they did that because they thought the Lord was leading them to do so.
“It goes back to the gospel – we’re all one in Christ,” Adams said. “I wanted to do something to say, ‘This is who I am as a Christian.’”
Richard Kidd, a music major from Franklin, Tennessee, is one of the students who has received the Adams scholarship.
“For me, it was a scholarship that more so came as a surprise, which made it even sweeter a gift,” Kidd said.
Kidd said education is a powerful tool and benefit to society, and private funds and scholarships especially can help empower students and meet specific financial and educational needs of people from all walks of life.
“I would greatly encourage more people to give to these foundations so that it can be a blessing to an ever-increasing amount of people and students,” Kidd said.
Absher-Bone, who retired as Union’s dean for the School of Adult and Professional Studies, and her late husband Keith, dean of Union’s McAfee School of Business who passed away in 2015, established their scholarships in 2009 – one for African American students and one for Hispanic/Latino students.
“I believe that education is the great equalizer,” Absher-Bone said. “You can change a person’s life by giving them a chance for a quality education. We wanted to do what we could to make sure that at least a few minority students every year had a chance to go to Union.
“There are a lot of things we can do for this underserved population,” she continued. “But I don’t know anything that could be much more important than helping them get an education at Union.”
Absher-Bone said the scholarships benefit not just the minority students but the entire student body because she sees the value of having a diverse student population.
“It means so much for students to be able to go through classes with people who have different views, different ideas and different family lives than they have,” she said. “I know that makes the education richer and more meaningful for students.”
Donations to student scholarships can be made online or by calling the Office of Institutional Advancement at (731) 661-5050.