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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, October 30, 2008

Hudson & Holland Scholars Program to celebrate 20th anniversary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 30, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Hudson & Holland Scholars Program at Indiana University Bloomington will celebrate its 20th anniversary on Nov. 8 (Saturday), with a formal reception from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and a banquet from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Both will take place in the Tudor Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St.

The evening will include tributes to the program's founders, award presentations, and a keynote address by alumna Virginia Githiri, who has three degrees from IU and is a gourmet popcorn company entrepreneur and a professional gospel recording artist. The program also will include a tribute to the late Hudson and Holland scholar Jessica Ruiz, a 19-year-old rising sophomore who died in July in a traffic accident in northern Indiana. The theme of the anniversary celebration is "Respecting Our Past, Embracing Our Future."

The Hudson & Holland Scholars Program works to recruit, retain and prepare outstanding students, focusing primarily on students from under-represented minority groups and those who contribute to educational diversity at IU Bloomington.

"The Hudson & Holland Scholars Program is a key component of the campus' effort to build an inclusive educational community that is committed to academic excellence," said Karen Hanson, the IU Bloomington provost and executive vice president. "Its students and alumni have accomplished remarkable things for 20 years, and I know that they will continue to do so."

The Hudson & Holland Scholars Program was birthed from the merger of two programs that were established for high-achieving minority students by Herman Hudson -- the Minority Achievers Program (MAP), which enrolled its first students in 1988; and the Mathematics and Science Scholarship (MASS) program, created in 1993, with the help of James P. Holland.

In 2004, the program was renamed to honor Hudson, a longtime IU administrator, and Holland, a longtime professor of biology at IU Bloomington. Hudson, the founding chairman of the IU Afro-American Studies Department, was the first IU dean of Afro-American Affairs and established the African-American Arts Institute. He died in 2003. Holland, who won numerous teaching and faculty awards, organized summer science enrichment programs for high-school students and research opportunities for IU undergraduates. He died in 1998.

Currently enrolling about 600 students, the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program is IU Bloomington's primary program for recruiting, supporting and ensuring the success of talented students, primarily from the state of Indiana, who contribute to campus diversity. It brings more than 100 prospective high school seniors to campus for the Crimson Campus Carpet Visit, during the campus' homecoming weekend in the fall.

Hudson & Holland Scholars also serves as a career development program, working with corporate, nonprofit and government partners to place students in internships and provide them with opportunities to conduct research and acquire on the job education and real world experience. To qualify for admission, students must have a high-school GPA of at least 3.0, rank in the top 20 percent of their graduating class, have a combined math and verbal SAT score of at least 1,000 or ACT score of 21, and possess a proven record of involvement and/or service.

At IU, Hudson & Holland Scholars engage in community service and have opportunities for extensive advising, mentoring and leadership experience. The Scholars program has achieved consistent graduation rates that are significantly higher than the IU Bloomington average.

Edwin Marshall, the IU vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs, said the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program is a highly significant program whose success is crucial to the university.

"Students want to go where there are challenges and where great things are happening," Marshall said. "Hudson & Holland is a signal that Indiana University is doing what it can to provide access and to provide the support system to make sure everyone who comes to IU is, in fact, successful."

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