The Marcus Garvey Scholarship

Background

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940)

Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican-born political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL, commonly known as UNIA). Ideologically a black nationalist and Pan-Africanist, his ideas came to be known as Garveyism.   Garvey was born to a moderately prosperous Afro-Jamaican family in Saint Ann’s Bay, Colony of Jamaica and apprenticed into the print trade as a teenager. Working in Kingston, he became involved in trade unionism before working briefly in Costa Rica, Panama, and England. Returning to Jamaica, he founded UNIA in 1914. In 1916, he moved to the United States and established a UNIA branch in Harlem. Emphasizing unity between Africans and the African diaspora, he campaigned for an end to European colonial rule across Africa and the political unification of the continent. He envisioned a unified Africa as a one-party state that would enact laws to ensure black racial purity. Although he never visited the continent himself, he was committed to the Back-to-Africa movement, arguing that many African-Americans should migrate there. UNIA grew in membership and Garveyist ideas became increasingly popular. However, his black separatist views—and his collaboration with white racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) to advance their shared interest in racial separatism—divided Garvey from other prominent African-American civil rights activists such as W. E. B. Du Bois who promoted racial integration.

Scholarship Focus

The Marcus Garvey Scholarship will be awarded to a deserving high school senior of West Indian heritage graduating from an accredited high school in Connecticut who demonstrates an acute commitment to the community and civic engagement.

Eligibility Requirements

  • Applicant must be a high school senior graduating from an accredited high school in Connecticut

  • Applicant must hold a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher, on a 4.0 scale.

  • Applicant must be applying to and/or accepted to an accredited 4-year college or university. 

Application Requirements

A complete application packet must include the following:

  1. One (1) letter of recommendation: one letter written by the applicant’s current high school teacher, guidance counselor, principal, or professor.

  2. A current transcript from your graduating high school(s)

  3. A 300-word (minimum of 250-word) essay responding to the question, “Using Marcus Garvey as an example, if you had the authority to change your school in a positive way, what specific changes would you make?”

  4. A resume that details your community service experiences, employment, and extra-curricular activities (include varsity, junior varsity, clubs, student government, etc.).

Applications must be submitted by March 1st of each year to be considered.