FMU announces scholarship honoring Speech Language Pathology program founder

Francis Marion University has created a new scholarship honoring the founder of University’s new Speech Language Pathology Program.

FMU President Dr. Fred Carter announced the new scholarship, named for the late Dr. Freda Campbell-Wilson, at the FMU African American Faculty & Staff Coalition’s annual gala last week.

The new scholarship is designed to help minority students interested in the health care field, and will be administered by the coalition. The coalition has been raising scholarship funds at FMU for almost two decades and administers four other named scholarships.

Carter said Campbell-Wilson’s legacy at FMU is worth remembering.

“(Freda) came here with a vision and a dream,” Carter said. “And man, did she like to talk about that dream. She would talk your head off when she really got going, because she believed in it. She believed in developing strong speech therapy programs.”

Campbell-Wilson, a pioneering educator in her field, came to FMU in late 2016 to guide the creation of the new SLP Program. She completed that task. The program enrolled its first students last fall, shortly before Campbell Wilson passed away.

The AAFSC was founded at FMU in 1995 to stimulate and enhance cultural awareness, and to promote professional development and welfare among faculty, staff and students.

Other scholarships administered by the AAFSC include the Dr. Joseph E. Heyward Scholarship, the Dr. Leroy “Pete” Peterson Scholarship, the Ms. Rebecca S. Lunn Scholarship, the Dr. Dorothy M. Harris Graduate Student Scholarship and the Yvonne G. Davis Community Service Scholarship.

The most recent recipients of the scholarships were also honored at the gala last week. They are:

The Dr. Joseph E. Heyward Scholarship: Stasia Dozier, Hannah Adams, Delonte Hough, Aaliyah Blake, Juwan Burnell, Tazhan’e Lunn, Jeannetta Wilson, Diamond Gregory, Johnayshia Lowery and Krystal Udeochu.

The Dr. Leroy “Pete” Peterson Scholarship: Ny’laysia Hair.

The Ms. Rebecca S. Lunn Scholarship: Lajeanna Blair and Tanisha Thompson.

The Dr. Dorothy M. Harris Graduate Student Scholarship: Teresa Tedder.

The AAFSC’s goals include increasing morale, and communication among members; creating an atmosphere of community for African American faculty, staff and students at FMU; serving as a liaison between the administrative personnel of FMU and the African American faculty and staff; and examining the university’s efforts in recruitment and retention of African American faculty and staff.