UNCF Offers College Scholarships to Children of Terrorist Attack Victims

FAIRFAX, Va.
The children of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will be eligible to receive a full scholarship for a college education at one of the United Negro College Fund's 39 member institutions. New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced the new program at a press conference late last month.
 "I would like to commend the United Negro College Fund for establishing a special scholarship fund for those children who lost their parents or guardians during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, including the attack at the World Trade Center," said Giuliani. "These scholarships will undoubtedly have a strong positive effect on the lives of thousands of young people who have suffered so terribly by ensuring that they will receive a first-class education."
Scholarships will be offered to any child, regardless of age, who lost a parent or guardian as a result of the tragic events. Scholarships will be awarded on financial need and will cover the cost of tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies.
The first recipients of the UNCF's 9-11 Scholarship are three students at Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina. Tiffany and Yolanda Smith, freshman twins, lost their father, Leon Smith Jr., in the attack on the World Trade Center. And Vernessa Richard, a senior, lost her father, Lt. Vernon Richard. Both men were New York City firefighters.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the Sept. 11 attacks and the personal impact the tragedy had on some of our students," says Dr. Dorothy Yancy, president of Johnson C. Smith. "However it is comforting to know that all children who have been touched by this tragedy will have the opportunity to get a college education as a result of this
initiative."