Kesha Williams
October 16, 2012
Elizabeth City State University Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist, left, joins ECSU Trustee Vonner G. Horton, right, for a $1,500 scholarship check presentation to Siloam Gray, center, a junior from Norfolk, Va., majoring in business administration. The one-time scholarship was funded by North Carolina Black Women Empowerment Network, a Raleigh-based organization of which Horton is a member and serves as chairperson of the Northeastern division. Horton recently was a keynote speaker for the organization’s biannual gala and was offered an honorarium for her speech. Instead of accepting the money, she offered the funds as a contribution toward a need-based scholarship to a female student at ECSU who is in good standing with the university. The scholarship will be disbursed by the ECSU Office of Financial Aid. North Carolina Black Women Empowerment Network is committed to the causes of black women and communities throughout the state. Its supreme mission is to advance the wholeness and total well-being of black women through deliberate social, economic, physical, mental health and educational initiatives. It provides workshops, scholarships and mentorship opportunities to black women of all ages. The activities the organization’s members are passionate about include developing programs to mentor young women and to provide scholarships for college working with the community to provide assistance to women in need of food and clothing and to educate women on physical and mental health issues.
