January
11, 2002
Lincoln University Music Professor Hits a High Note with
a Hefty Scholarship Contribution to the University
(related
pictures)
Thanks to the inspired generosity of a Lincoln University
professor and his wife, an endowment fund for a University
music scholarship has grown from $7,500 to $20,000.
Lincoln University Music Professor Dr. Alvin E. Amos
and his wife, Carol, a project engineer for DuPont Corporation,
have contributed an additional $13,000 to the endowment
fund for the Dr. Alvin E. and Carol B. Amos Scholarship
Award in Music. They made the donation in the fall 2001
semester.
The couple originally established the fund in November
2000 with a $7,500 contribution as a way to "attract students
who are on the verge of making a decision about enrolling
at Lincoln University," Dr. Amos said.
The scholarship is awarded to an instrumental (non-piano)
music major or minor with at least a 2.75 GPA, an interest
in studying church music, and demonstrated performance
ability. The first award of $500 went to freshman Aaron
Owens of Philadelphia, a budding guitarist.
"I was surprised to know that I received this scholarship.
To be the first recipient is a great honor," Owens said.
"This scholarship was definitely a great help in my endeavor
to help pay for my college education."
Dr. and Mrs. Amos contributed the additional $13,000
in hopes of increasing the amount of the next award. Dr.
Amos is also hoping his colleagues will follow suit and
contribute to this fund or start a new endowment. "The
scholarship might be an additional incentive" for top-ranking
students to make Lincoln University their institution
of choice, he added.
Owens, 18, is a graduate of Philadelphia's Parkway High
School, a secondary school designed for students planning
careers in music. He learned about his award this past
Labor Day while performing at the 12th annual Tony William
Jazz Scholarship Festival held at the Cherry Hill Hilton
in Cherry Hill, N.J. And it wasn't the only bit of good
news he received.
Owens also received a brand new Ibanez guitar from one
of his idols - guitarist and multiple Grammy-winner, George
Benson. Benson is the jazz guitarist who is responsible
for creating some of the best selling jazz albums of all
time, including Breezin' (1984), which sold three million
copies, and Give Me the Night (1980), which sold one million
copies.
Benson inspired Owens to take up the guitar. As a child,
Owens said he heard Benson's music and told his parents
he wanted to learn to play. In addition, Owen's late uncle,
Thornel Schwartz, was one of Benson's mentors.
"I was totally shocked when I received the guitar," Owens
said. "To receive a guitar from someone that I idolized
for my whole musical life was an extreme honor. I was
proud that he thought enough of me to do something like
that."
Founded in 1854, Lincoln University is a premier, Historically
Black University that combines the best elements of a
liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum
and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of students
living in a highly technological and global society.
Lincoln University is ranked first in Pennsylvania and
second in the nation in graduating African Americans with
baccalaureate degrees in the physical sciences. Lincoln
is also the only university in the Commonwealth and one
of but 20 universities nationwide where 40 percent or
more of its physics graduates are women. * * * *
