A new scholarship is available to full-time freshmen at APSU with a recent pledge from the Zeta Phi chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity.
On Monday, Oct. 5, AKPsi’s 111th anniversary, Zeta Phi’s officers presented President Alisa White with the first $2,500 installment of what will be a $25,000 scholarship.
According to AKPsi’s chapter adviser Matthew Kilpatrick, they have been working toward the scholarship for years.
“This endeavor has been something that has been discussed for a couple of years by the members of the fraternity, but the officers met this summer and decided to make this a reality,” Kilpatrick said.
The fraternity plans to have two scholarships awarded annually, one for incoming freshmen with a minimum GPA of 3.5 and one for AKPsi members in good standing with the fraternity and a GPA of 3.25 or higher.
AKPsi chapter president Rebecca Jacks said they hope to begin offering the scholarships as soon as possible, though they have to meet the $25,000 goal before any scholarships can be handed out.
“We are reaching out to alumni and faculty to help us meet the [endowment] goal in a timely manner,” Jacks said. “The College of Business faculty have been extremely supportive of our scholarship initiative and the Zeta Phi chapter could not be more thankful to the faculty and staff that have pledged to help us meet our endowment goal.”
Kilpatrck said Zeta Phi’s alumni were important to the scholarship’s success.
“The chapter has reached out to alumni to help promote and raise funds for the endowment account,” Kilpatrick said.
According to Kilpatrick, it was ultimately a group effort. “Rebecca Jacks, the chapter president, and Curtice Barrow, the treasurer, have been the driving force behind this initiative to give back to APSU, but the entire membership of the chapter has rallied together to support this cause,” Kilpatrick said.
Jacks said her organization aims to help their colleagues academically.
“The Zeta Phi chapter would like to help other students succeed academically and by helping financially it helps make that possible,” Jacks said.
