Brown v. Board scholarship committee announces 29 awards, at least $440,000; $500,000 federal grant pending

The Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Committee, chaired by State Senator Angela Williams Graves, announced on May 8 in Richmond that it had approved scholarships for 29 new applicants totaling at least $440,000 and reviewed a fiscal update showing roughly $2.7 million remaining in the scholarship fund pending a possible $500,000 federal allocation.

Senator Angela Williams Graves, chair of the committee, said the group met in closed session to review applications and then returned to open session to report outcomes. “We have done some good work here in closed session,” Senator Williams Graves said after the committee reconvened.

Staff reported that the 2024–25 academic year was the first semester in which the committee implemented an extension of eligibility to descendants of the original plaintiffs. Under the committee’s report, 40 students were approved under the 2024 criteria: students eligible under the new (descendant) criteria were eligible for awards of up to…