Monticello Live

African-American alumni of the University of Arkansas at Monticello and Phi Beta Sigma fraternity have created an endowment campaign to honor Shay Gillespie of Monticello, a pioneering leader for African-American students at UAM.

The group plans to raise $15,000 to endow the Shay Gillespie Phi Beta Sigma Leadership Scholarship. Income generated from the endowment will fund scholarships for full-time undergraduate students. Scholarship recipients must maintain a 2.5 grade point average, show leadership, and be an active member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, Zeta Phi Beta sorority, or an organization directly associated with Phi Beta Sigma. Recipients will be recommended by the UAM African-American Alumni Association and selected by the UAM Scholarship Committee.

Gillespie is a 1978 UAM graduate who serves as a pastor, youth counselor, church youth leader, and motivational speaker. He and his wife, Sherry, are the owners of “Head of the Class,” a Monticello childcare and learning center.
Gillespie recently authored a book entitled …a Little Child Shall Lead Them, which he describes as a common sense guide to child rearing.

The Gillespie Scholarship is the third endowment created or initiated by the African-American Alumni Association. The group previously endowed the Classie Jones-Green African-American Alumni Scholarship and is involved in an active endowment campaign for the Al Peer Kappa Alpha Psi Scholarship.

Pictured: Classie Jones-Green (first row, right) presents the first check to create an endowment campaign for the Shay Gillespie Phi Beta Sigma Leadership Scholarship. Pictured from left are (first row) Shay Gillespie, UAM Chancellor Jack Lassiter, Classie Jones-Green, (second row, from left) UAM students Christean Bell, a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority; Phil Dyer, Billy Huggins, and Joe Jordan, all members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 2:46 pm and is filed under News, Schools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.