Caribbean Student Association students receive scholarships

The Dallas West Indies United (DWIU) organization awarded three scholarships to A&M-Commerce students Ryan Maycock, J. Royal and Alvin Gomez on Saturday Nov. 6. Scholarship recipients were awarded based on their involvement in the Caribbean Student Association (CaribSA), GPA and a submitted essay.

CaribSA advisor and Instructor and Mentor for the Department of Marketing and Management Omar Brown said he is proud of his members and their accomplishment.

"It means a lot to know that their hard work, dedication and perseverance do not go unrewarded," he said. "Three of the five scholarship recipients were from A&M-Commerce. It speaks volumes of the high caliber of members that we have in our organization."

Maycock, a junior psychology major, said it meant a lot to him to receive the scholarship since he is originally from the Caribbean.

"I was excited because I need as much help as I possibly can with school," Maycock said. "I felt really honored to be awarded this scholarship from DWIU. It meant a lot to me being from the Bahamas."

Brown said that as their umbrella organization, the DWIU has goals similar to CaribSA's in that not all students have to be of Caribbean decent

"Two of the three applicants have no lineage to the Caribbean, which proves to solidify our motto ‘Divided by water. United by culture,'" Brown said. "I am truly proud of their efforts and we will continue to pair the first priority of academic excellence with promoting the Caribbean culture."

Gomez, a junior accounting major, received the Ozzy Mollison Scholarship. He said the scholarship would take some of the pressure off of buying textbooks.

"It helps me a lot," he said. "I feel less stressed about buying books for next semester because books are so expensive."

Royal is a business management major and President of CaribSA. He was awarded the Mrs. Inez Walker Scholarship and said he grateful for the acknowledgment of his work in the organization.

"It's good to get recognized for your contributions to the organization," he said. "It was really exciting [at the banquet] because all of the attention was on you."

The scholarship recipients agreed to complete 20 hours of community service with DWIU. Maycock is looking forward to serving the community.

"It will give me chance to give back to the community," he said. "It will also keep me around folks of my culture because the organization promotes culture awareness."

More information on CaribSA can be obtained through Brown at 903-886-5629 or Omar_Brown@tamu-commerce.edu.