One of Carey Ash’s first acts as president of the Student Government Association at Southern University at Baton Rouge was to make sure students who couldn’t afford textbooks had access to them anyway. That meant giving up his own scholarship money to purchase the books.
When he took office last April, Ash launched the Ivory M. Berry Textbook Assistance Program, which began loaning textbooks this fall to students who couldn’t afford them.
Ash gave up his $4,000 presidential scholarship award to purchase textbooks that students can borrow for up to two weeks through the university’s library.
“I felt I could best serve my student body by equipping them with the tools they need to learn, and that is a textbook,” says Ash. “The high cost of textbooks would no longer be an obstacle to someone pursuing an education.”
Ash, a senior, named the program after his mentor, Ivory M. Berry, a 2007 Southern University graduate who was highly engaged in campus life and the SGA. Berry also served as Ash’s campaign advisor and had inspired him to be a selfless leader.
Ash’s path to being a leader did not occur overnight. Berry recalls the transformation that he says he is proud of.
