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Gift of $25,000 from Kirby Inland Marine funds scholarships for TAMUG Texas Maritime Academy Cadets
Kirby Inland Marine representatives – Agustin Colchado, manager of Employee Development, and Ken Shaver, Canal Personnel manager – visited TAMUG in January to present a $25,000 scholarship check. The gift funds special scholarships for qualifying students in the Texas Maritime Academy Cadet Battalion for the 2011-2012 academic year.
The Kirby Inland Marine Scholarship Program annually recognizes top junior and senior students who demonstrate the leadership ability to achieve successful careers in the brown water industry. Each of the six TMA students who are selected yearly to be the university’s Kirby Scholars receives a $4,000 scholarship.
The 2010-2011 academic year winners attending the check presentation were Ryan Carden, a Marine Transportation (MART) major from Atascadero, Calif.; Cory Fontenot, a MART major from Alvin, Tex.; Scott Stock, a MART major from Newport, N.Y.; and Sandy Walker, a MART major from Dallas.
Dr. William J. Merrell, acting vice president and CEO of the university, says “Texas A&M University at Galveston sincerely appreciates the opportunities that the entire Gulf marine industry offers to our Texas Maritime Academy students.
“Excellent scholarship programs – such as this one from Kirby – certainly demonstrate the high level of responsibilities our industry partners entrust to their TAMUG student interns,” Merrell said.
“We are very thankful for the outstanding support Kirby has shown to our campus through ongoing donations and intern opportunities for our cadets as well as the career opportunities they offer to our graduates.” he said.
Rear Admiral William W. Pickavance, superintendent of the TMA also expressed his appreciation to Kirby, saying, “In today’s economy, these Kirby scholarships play a key role in providing our students the ability to stay in school and eventually work in a very strategic industry! Everyone wins….the participating cadets…the company….the State of Texas….the nation!”
To be considered for the Kirby Inland Marine Scholarship Program, students must be enrolled full-time in the License Option Program; complete or be currently enrolled in all prerequisite courses for their junior cruise; remain in good standing academically; and demonstrate leadership, evidenced by participation and positions held in student organizations, activities and the Cadet Battalion.
Additionally, all scholarship candidates are required to submit an essay focused on the workboat and brown water industries.
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