Last fall, some members of St. James’ met with representatives of the Seminary of the Southwest with an eye to establishing a scholarship to provide financial support for a low-income African American seminarian or a seminarian of color to study at the seminary in preparation for priesthood in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Thanks to a partnership with the seminary, the Texas Pauli Murray Scholarship has become a reality. As a result of the partnership with the seminary, the Texas Pauli Murray Scholarship will provide up to $20,000-$25,000 per year in living expenses, according to need, in addition to a full tuition grant and other assistance (such as books and housing) provided by the Seminary.
The scholarship is named for Pauli Murray: scholar, lawyer, priest, and activist. Pauli Murray was a moving force in the civil rights movement and influenced both Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She also was a co-founder of the National Organization for Women. Later in life, she became the first African American woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. For Pauli Murray’s remarkable story, see ‘The Many Lives of Pauli Murray,” Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker.)
The organizing committee has now expanded to include representatives from other parishes in the diocese. The fundraising, apart from directly funding the scholarship, will move toward building a corpus for an endowment. Thus far, we have raised $120,000 in pledges and donations to date, and Bishop Doyle has pledged his financial and moral support.
Our goal is to raise enough money to award up to $25,000 to a student per class or $75,000/year for three students. At the same time, we need to build an endowment as rapidly as possible to allow the scholarship to become self-sustaining.
Our inaugural fundraising scholarship gala (named “Shoulders to the Sky,” from a poem of Pauli Murray) will be on Saturday, September 28, 6:30pm, at the DoubleTree Hilton in north Austin.
We welcome – and thank you for – your support in any way you can: sponsorship, gala ticket purchase, and/or gala program ad. You may purchase gala tickets directly on line (or help with a sponsorship) by going to the “Donate” button on the Welcome Table, Inc. website: http://welcometableaustin.org/. By check: Please make payable to Welcome Table Inc. and put in collection plate and mark “Pauli Murray Scholarship” on the Memo line.
If you would like to volunteer to help with raising funds for the scholarship or with the gala or just seek further information, please contact jim@stjamesaustin.org. We have a Facebook page as well: Texas Pauli Murray Scholarship.
We are proud of St. James’ for stepping forward to help with this important endeavor for our church community. Thank you.
Jim Harrington
Co-Chair, Texas Pauli Murray Scholarship Committee
