DANVILLE —
Members of the community gathered Sunday evening at the 16th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship banquet to hear the announcement of the winner of this year’s award.
Craig DeArmond, Vermilion County circuit court judge and member of the scholarship selection committee, explained to the audience the criteria for applying for and awarding of the scholarship.
“Applicants are solicited through the schools, churches, businesses and individuals,” DeArmond said. “The committee starts accepting applications at the end of September and are accepted until the first Friday in December.”
DeArmond went on to explain that all of the applicants’ personal identifying information is removed before the applications are submitted to the selection committee.
“Each application, which must contain an essay by the applicant, are assigned a number,” DeArmond said. “The selection committee looks at each application and makes a judgment solely on the information from the application and the essay.”
According to DeArmond, each applicant must be a senior, have an intention to continue his or her education, demonstrate an economic need and have some type of community involvement.
“It is similar to the Academy Awards,” joked DeArmond. “But way more important.”
This year’s recipient was Danville High School senior Latajah Graham.
Mary Thompson, chair of the MLK Celebration Committee, presented Graham with the $4,000 scholarship.
Thompson said the scholarship is one of, if not the largest, scholarships awarded in the area.
“We, on the committee, want to thank the churches, businesses and individuals who help make this possible,” Thompson said.
Graham, who hopes to attend either the University of Indianapolis or Middle Tennessee State University after graduation from DHS, plans to study dentistry.
After receiving the scholarship award, Graham read her application essay to the audience.
“I do believe that character is an important factor in success and advancements because character is possessing qualities in life that makes one successful,” Graham said.
Graham went on to say, “I believe what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was saying was to not look at a person’s outward appearance and judge them, but to look at the qualities they have as an individual. Most importantly, we as a society must realize that a person who has character may come in many different shapes and sizes.”
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