The University of Dayton and the city of Dayton will celebrate a 20-year scholarship program that has awarded more than $1.3 million to honor the legacy of local civil rights leader W.S. McIntosh.
Community and University leaders, along with program recipients, will offer a public salute to McIntosh at 5:30 p.m., Friday, June 8 at the Dayton Cultural and RTA Center, 40 S. Edwin Moses Blvd. Alumni of the program will have a reunion dinner and celebration on Saturday evening at the Engineers Club.
Each year since 1987, the University and the city have awarded the W. S. McIntosh Memorial Leadership award to a graduating African-American high school student who is a resident of the city of Dayton.
The celebration also includes an information session for potential McIntosh scholars from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at Marianist Hall. High school students can talk with past McIntosh scholars about life at UD and take a campus tour. Sponsored by the admission office and the office of diverse student populations, the event is free and participants have a chance to win a $1,000 UD scholarship.
The combination scholarship/internship has been awarded to 21 recipients since its inception. The four-year scholarship award includes tuition, fees, room and board and a computer with a current estimated total value of $140,000. The award also includes a paid four-year internship with the City of Dayton.
The goal of the program is to encourage local African-American students to attend UD and to stay in the area after graduation by supporting their education and helping them develop professional experience while in school.
McIntosh alumni include Dayton City Manager Rashad Young, who was the 1994 recipient. Dayton Early College Academy graduate Alvin Wilkerson is the 2007 recipient. Wilkerson, who also earned an associate of science degree from Sinclair Community College, will study engineering at UD.
McIntosh, a noted Dayton area civil rights leader in the 1960s, was shot and killed while trying to prevent a robbery at a jewelry store in downtown Dayton on March 4, 1974. He led several nonviolent protests that fought to open employment in local businesses to minorities.
