The Copper Mountain College Foundation has announced that a college professor has established a scholarship in memory of George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis in May. Ernest Figueroa has more information about the George Floyd Scholarship Fund…
Copper Mountain College psychology professor Kay Jayo-Meads, a woman of color, wanted to show her gratitude to the people who helped her along the way to her success, and her solidarity with other people of color by establishing the George Floyd Scholarship Fund. Residents are invited to contribute to the scholarship at Copper Mountain College. A link to make a donation to the George Floyd Scholarship Fund is available below.
George Floyd Scholarship Fund was established in June of 2020 by Copper Mountain College Professor of Psychology and Student Success Kay Jayo-Meads with her deepest gratitude as a woman of color who has been helped by people all along the way and to show solidarity to end this inequity in the United States and in the world.
Copper Mountain College Foundation honors Mr. Floyd’s memory as well as Ms. Jayo-Meads wishes and invites all to join in this beautiful scholarship opportunity at our community college.
During this time of injustice and unrest in the midst of an already existing pandemic, we would be remiss not to say something. Now is not the time to be “colorblind”. Now is the time to see color. Therefore, to our black community, we see you, and we see the experiences you have endured solely due to the color of your skin. We see the centuries of systemic pain and suffering overwhelmingly caused to your community, we stand in solidarity with you, and support you in your efforts for the change that is desperately needed in our society and in our world.
It is our job to make sure our students are supported. We have a group that, as a community, as a people, are not being supported in this society. We see it loud and clear in our data across our K-12 and community college systems that black, especially black male students are continuously disproportionately impacted in education, and disproportionately targeted beyond the education system.
We will do better. As an institution, this is what we will strive to work on:
– We will acknowledge the lived experiences of our students of color, hear where they are coming from, and learn from our students just as much as we expect them to learn from us.
– We will check our unconscious biases at the door. We all have them. We will acknowledge them, and work to break through them.
– We will listen and have understanding of the important experiences our students bring and know that we do not live in a society where everyone is treated equally.
– We will unify in the fight against racism.
The killing of George Floyd was not an isolated incident. He is one in a long list of lives unjustly taken. We stand in solidarity with the black community. To quote Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. As individuals that belong to an educational institution, we are stewards of the most powerful weapon to make things right. We, at CMC, are committed making things right.
