ABAC ANNOUNCES NEW SCHOLARSHIP

The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Foundation, Inc. announces the establishment of the María Guadalupe Cervantes Memorial Scholarship.

This endowed scholarship will be awarded annually to a student of Hispanic descent who attends ABAC, is a Georgia resident, and is not eligible for state or federal aid. The selection of the student will be made by a committee consisting of the following members: Luz R. Marti, founder and chairperson of La Fiesta del Pueblo; Yolanda Emery and Diana Mendieta (representing La Fiesta del Pueblo); Antonio Cervantes Soto, Rosana Cervantes, Roberto Delgado Soto, and Petra Soto Ruiz (Cervantes family members); and one representative from the Catholic Church. The first scholarship will be awarded in the Spring of 2003.

ABAC Foundation President Melvin Merrill said it takes a minimum of $10,000 to create an endowed scholarship. An endowed scholarship is special in that it becomes a permanent annual award. The money used to fund the scholarship comes from earnings generated by the invested $10,000.

The scholarship was created by family members and friends to honor the memory of Cervantes, who died in the tornado that struck Omega on Feb. 14, 2000. Individuals responsible for initiating this new scholarship include Petra Soto Ruiz (Cervantes’ mother); Roberto Delgado Soto and Antonio Cervantes Soto (Cervantes’ brothers); Rosana Cervantes (Cervantes’ sister-in-law); Father Juan López of Our Divine Savior Catholic Church in Tifton; Father Mike Smith of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Moultrie; and Luz Marti of La Fiesta del Pueblo.

Cervantes was born in Monclova, in the state of Coahila, Mexico, on Sept. 17, 1957. Even as a child, Cervantes dreamed of becoming a teacher and educating children. She attended teachers’ college and received her bachelor's degree at Gomez Palacio Durango. Cervantes also completed nursing school in Nueva Rosita, but her passion for teaching inspired her to dedicate herself to teaching Mexican children in the educational system of her native Coahuila. She also

served as Superintendent of Schools.

In 1989, Cervantes moved to the United States to continue her work as an educator. She settled in Omega but faced disadvantages and limitations because she could not speak English. As a result, she had to work as a migrant farmer.

Cervantes dreamed of more, though. She wanted her people to receive an education, to learn the English language, and to grow with dignity to become a large and prosperous minority in the United States. La Fiesta del Pueblo helped Cervantes achieve her goal. This Hispanic festival, which began in Omega in 1996, offers the Latin American and Anglo communities a day of mutual coexistence, allowing Hispanics to celebrate their culture, customs, dances, music, arts and crafts, and food. Cervantes devoted her life and energy to working with this non-profit organization.

Marti, who is a USDA-ARS Southeast Watershed Chemist at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, said she and Cervantes’ family and friends wanted to establish the

scholarship to honor Cervantes’ memory and all of the work she did as an educator.

“We wanted to create this scholarship to give Hispanic students an opportunity to receive a college education,” Marti said. “Many contributors helped make this possible, including Suzanne Spinks Dunn, Mr. and Mrs. Ford Spinks, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs Patrick, and South Georgia Bank. We also raised a lot of money through fund raisers at La Fiesta del Pueblo.”

For additional information about this new scholarship, contact Missy Hutto in ABAC’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations at (229) 386-3265. Contributions to the scholarship fund can be mailed to the María Guadalupe Cervantes Memorial Scholarship, ABAC Foundation, ABAC 13, 2802 Moore Highway, Tifton, Georgia, 31793-2601.

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