HOLLY SPRINGS, MS – Four Rust College students were awarded Ida B. Wells Scholarships at the Ida. B. Wells-Barnett Birthday celebration held Saturday, July 23 at the Eddie Lee Smith Complex in Holly Springs, MS.
The event is held annually, celebrating and promoting awareness of the life and work of Ida B. Wells-Barnett and raising funds to support scholarships offered by the Ida B. Wells Foundation.
The 2022 Scholarship Award recipients are:
- Aaliyah Sharpe, a sophomore Health Sciences major from Memphis, TN • Cristina Calhoun, a senior Biology major from Tunica, MS
- Bianca Thedford, a senior Mass Communications major from Memphis, TN • Jaikyeron Dukes, a senior Biology major from Columbus, MS
The Foundation established the Scholarship in 2009, awarding three students entering either their junior or senior year at Wells’ alma mater, Rust College. Growth over the year put the Foundation in a position to award four students for the 2022-2023 academic year. Students must
demonstrate scholarship as well as leadership abilities. To-date, the Foundation has given out over 40 scholarships.
About Rust College
Rust College is the oldest, most prestigious historically black college in Mississippi founded in 1866 by the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Offering degree programs in business, education, humanities, science and mathematics, and social science, Rust College equips and inspires students for excellence and service in their communities and throughout the world. Located in Holly Springs, MS, just 35 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Rust College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate and baccalaureate degrees.
