MPS, Morehouse partnership pulls in $800K in scholarships

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Public Schools announced a new partnership with Morehouse College Tuesday, June 19th. That partnership netted $800,000 in scholarships and means MPS is sending the largest-ever group of Wisconsin students to the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We came together to talk about what could we do about the future of many young men of color in our community," MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said.

Seven MPS students signed scholarship offers Tuesday morning -- worth $25,000 per student, per school year at MPS’ Rufus King International School.

Three additional Wisconsin students whose scholarships were made possible by the MPS partnership also signed scholarship offers. The money came from generous private and corporate donations, but the recipients had to earn the reward.

The MPS students who won the academic scholarships to the prestigious all-male Morehouse College in Atlanta are:

"I think it was great. Us young men in Milwaukee, we don't get a good rep around the city, so I think for us to have this opportunity, for people who believe in us to give us money to go to school and pay our full tuition -- I think is great," Durham said.
 
MPS’ partnership with Morehouse also generated benefits for students from schools around Wisconsin.

They include:

"It's no surprise that Bill Crosby and Denzel Washington and Steve Harvey and Stevie Wonder would send their sons to Morehouse. They recognize that there's a place where the nation's elite intellectually can come and be found and find themselves at a place where they can grow both spiritually, educationally, socially and academically," Morehouse trustee Dale Jones said.

Morehouse College is the nation’s largest private liberal arts college for men.