Next Generation Scholars Complete Freshman Year at LeMoyne-Owen College

 DeMarrious Ramsey grew up in a house next to LeMoyne-Owen College. As a kid he would play outside, daydream and stare at the large buildings asking himself, “What is going on over there?”

Fifteen years later, not only is DeMarrious finishing his freshman year at the college, he says now he can go into each one of those buildings he saw as a kid growing up and discover what’s going on inside for himself.

“Being able to go to college on a $100,000 scholarship is great because my family didn’t grow up with anything,” he says.

Financially assisted by Kroger Co. Foundation, the Next Generation Scholarship Program is a collaboration with the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis (WFGM), Kroger and LeMoyne-Owen College (LOC). DeMarrious is one of five Next Generation Scholars that graduated from Booker T. Washington High School’s class of 2022  selected to attend LOC. The program includes a full scholarship for four years, books, meals, housing, internships and laptops. Both schools reside in zip code 38126 ─ the most economically challenged neighborhood in Memphis.

“We are grateful for the partnership with Kroger because it aligns with the work we are doing in 38126 to reduce poverty,” said WFGM President and CEO, Shante K. Avant. “One of the ways we see reducing poverty, a critical piece of that is educational opportunities for young people. We are creating pathways for post-secondary opportunities for students who attended BTW and grew up in this community to attend our only HBCU in Memphis.”

WFGM and Kroger seek to ensure the students have everything they need while they are in school to remove any barriers from their college experience. There has already been a big impact as each of the students understands the value of this opportunity for them.

“The Kroger Next Generation Scholarship is a dream come true opportunity for me,” said Next Generation Scholar, Crystal Johnson.  “I hope I have a great impact on my community along with the kids that I grew up with as well as my family. I want to be that role model for them to make it out.”

As first-generation college students, one of the goals of the program is that several generations in each family will be impacted by the students receiving a college degree.

“The investments we are making in their education will reap multitudes of benefits for them. It gives them an opportunity to have careers, to think about how they will take care of their family, and become economically self-sufficient,” says Avant. “More importantly, it is a pathway out of poverty for students who have lived in communities that for decades have been de-invested. Now with this partnership with Kroger, the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis and LOC, they understand the sky is the limit.”

With this opportunity and scholarships, these first-generation college students are seizing new opportunities to invest in their own bright future.