Metro Atlanta native Daria Jordan, a Buick Achievers Scholarship recipient and senior at Spelman College, was honored at the UNCF 36th “Evening of Stars” showcase. This writer had the opportunity to meet the scholar during a dessert reception at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel hosted by General Motors and General Motors Foundation, on the eve of the show’s taping.
Funded by the GM Foundation, the Buick Achievers Scholarship is one of the largest scholarship programs in the country. Scholarships are awarded to “female, minority and other students who excel in the classroom and give back to their communities.” Over the last two decades, GM has donated more than $15 million to the United Negro College Fund to administer the program for students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Their support makes events like the “Evening of Stars” possible.
“The UNICF has been a lightning rod to pull together the corporate support needed to affect real change in the lives of countless African American high school students who dream of going to college,” GM Foundation president Vivian Pickard says in a statement to the press. “It’s inspiring to see how those efforts impact individuals and hear their stories about commitment and hard work and we’re proud to be a part of that success.”
Jordan is part of the first class of graduates who have received Buick Achievers Scholarships funds for their entire college careers.
“Before I received the scholarship, I was always worried about how I would pay for [Spelman], my dream school,” Jordan says.
“With the Buick Achiever Scholarship, I was not only able to attend Spelman, but I was able to thrive without worrying about the cost of my education. I even joined the robotics team, and was able to plan and travel to international robotics competitions in places like Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Puerto Rico and Brazil.”
Here are five things to know about Jordan.
- She graduated from the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, which is a charter high school founded in 2007. She was one of the only African American female students interested in engineering.
- She was a member of the Spelman robotics team, the Spelbots, the only all-African American, all-female robotics team in the world.
- The vice president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Spelman Chapter, she is also the executive board member, Sisters Keeping it Real Through Services, which is an organization committed to providing underprivileged female youths with the opportunity to better themselves through service and to empower and mentor young women.
- She is a computer science major and will graduate in May 2015.
- She plans to work for Deloitte as a business technology analyst.
The 36th UNCF “An Evening of Stars” will air at 10 p.m. on BET on Sunday, April 26, 2015.
