The Rotary Club of St. Thomas II has announced that this year’s recipient of the Macon M. Berryman Scholarship is Mariisa Mussenden, a member of the senior class at the Charlotte Amalie High School. Each year, Rotary II awards a four-year scholarship to a graduating student in the St. Thomas/St. John District who has been accepted to the University of the Virgin Islands. The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, books and academic fees, and requires the recipient to become a part of Rotary by joining the UVI Rotaract Club.
The scholarship application includes an essay, and this year’s topic, in light of the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, was “The Role of NGO’s in Disaster Relief.” Mussenden’s essay was on point with the importance of volunteerism and what it is that individuals through NGO’s can do to help when a government agency can get hamstrung in its own bureaucratic red tape. Club President Simon Kevin Caines presented the four-year scholarship during the Honors Night ceremonies on June 9. The scholarship, named in honor of Rotary II’s founder, Macon M. Berryman, was established in 1994. Mussenden is the club’s 16th recipient.
This year, two Macon M. Berryman scholars graduated from UVI: Nishel D. Lawrence with a BS in Nursing and Re’Neesha J. Thomas, cum laude, with a BA in Social Science, which she accomplished in only three years. Since the scholarship program began, Rotary II has provided almost $300,000 in scholarships to Virgin Islands students.
The Rotary Club of St. Thomas II has adopted the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School and the Anna’s Retreat Senior Center. It also has a weekly radio program, REACH (Rotary Educating and Caring for Humanity). The club’s annual car raffle is the major source of funding for its charitable efforts, including the scholarship and its many literacy related projects including a dictionary project for third graders at Lockhart Elementary School and a thesaurus project for 8th graders at Cancryn Jr. H.S.