Brianna's Bulletin: June 2025

Last week, we joined with friends, families, and donors at The W.G. Pearson Center to celebrate our 2024-25 scholarship recipients. This joyful moment was a culmination of the students’ hard work and dedication.

As I reflect upon that event, I begin to recall my own scholarship journey. 

The summer before high school, I attended the Sankofa Dance Theater, a woman-led camp in Savannah that focused on dances born from Black diasporic history. There, I met this one fascinating college student who was home from her first year at Howard University. 

She told me what going to a historically Black college and university was like. She also told me how the Gates Millennium Scholars Program made her path to college possible. 

Meeting her that summer filled me with hope and guidance for my educational future.

Throughout high school, I became determined to pursue any opportunity that would enrich my academic and leadership skills. During my senior year, I confidently applied for as many scholarships as possible. I received some acceptances, some rejections, until the one letter that I was waiting for finally arrived.

That April, I was notified that I was accepted into the Gates Scholars cohort—the very same program that made me feel attending college was possible. More specifically, I learned I had received a full ride to the college of my dreams, North Carolina Central University. My time at NCCU set me on the path that led me to where I am today.

My experience as a scholarship recipient has also guided my work at DPS Foundation. In addition to my current capacity as interim executive director, I managed our Scholarships program this year. We offer DPS seniors the Durham Promise Scholarship alongside multiple memorial scholarships. This year, we awarded $62,500 in scholarship funds!

This is truly an exciting time for so many of our DPS graduates. From all of us here at DPSF, congratulations and best of luck to the Class of 2025!