George Dawson “Hold Fast to Dreams” Scholarship Fund

The George Dawson “Hold Fast to Dreams” Scholarship honors the memory of the late Mr. George Dawson, a Dallas resident who learned to read at the age of 98 and who wrote a book about his life at age 100. Born in 1898, the grandson of slaves, Mr. Dawson began working at the age of four to help support his family. In succeeding years, Mr. Dawson worked as a laborer, a cowboy, a farmer, and other professions. By the age of 98, he had long since retired from a life of hard work and spent most of his time fishing. However, there was one thing he had never learned to do: read.

When a teacher from a local adult education program paid a visit, Mr. Dawson he decided it was time to add literacy to the skills he had acquired from the school of life. Not discouraged that some of his classmates were 80 or more years younger, Mr. Dawson learned to read and write his name after a lifetime of signing papers with an “X”.

After several DCCCD employees learned of Mr. Dawson’s story and met this humble and wise man, they decided he would be the perfect champion and advocate to lead a movement against illiteracy and to promote lifelong learning. Those employees joined forces with the Dallas community, the nation and even some international citizens and elevated Mr. Dawson to iconic status through various programs including a scholarship fund. The establishment of the "Hold Fast To Dreams" scholarship will allow deserving DCCCD students to follow Mr. Dawson’s example to love life and value reading, writing and learning…at any age. The "Hold Fast To Dreams" scholarship will also allow students to chase and catch their dreams, an adventure Mr. Dawson continued until his death.

“Life is good just like it is,” says Mr. Dawson.
“You don’t want to waste life, not a minute of it.”

Amount of Award
$250 per semester

Number of Awards Per Year
Up to seven (one at each college)

Source of Funds
Privately Funded

Designated College
All DCCCD Community Colleges

Eligibility Criteria
Restricted to DCCCD students who are enrolled in a fall or spring semester-length class. DCCCD students must have and maintain a 2.5 GPA and carry a course load of at least six hours.

• One-page essay describing applicant's short and long-term educational and/or career goals - essay should be one full page (no more-no less), typed, double-spaced, 12-point font.
• One letter of recommendation from a DCCCD faculty or staff member.

The applicant's personal essay must summarize their short and long-term educational and/or career goals as it relates to one of the questions below. Only one of the four questions must be addressed in the essay. It is very important that the essay be as complete as possible as it is a very important part of the selection process.

1. How do you plan to incorporate George Dawson's legacy of continuous learning into your goals?
2. How do you plan to make your "life so good"?
3. How do you plan to stay focused on your goals as you fold other priorities into your life? Other priorities being defined as family, work, volunteer, church, etc.
4. Explain how your goals and/or your life will make a difference in society.
    

• Phase I - The Financial Aid Director at each DCCCD location will review the submissions to ensure a complete packet (application form, essay and recommendation letter) exists, ensure the applicant meets the eligibility criteria, and ensure the application form is complete. All applicant packets will be sent to the Foundation Scholarship Coordinator at the Foundation Office.
• Phase II - The Foundation Scholarship Coordinator will review to ensure all applicant packets are received, ensure all documentation arrived from all locations, send rejection letters to those applicants who do not meet the criteria or submitted incomplete packets. The Foundation Scholarship Coordinator will also make copies of the complete packets and forward to the George Dawson Scholarship Committee.
• Phase III - The George Dawson Scholarship Committee will review all applicant packets and determine the seven scholarship recipients.

Recipient Requirements
Recipients of the scholarship must write a letter of thanks to the family of Mr. George Dawson.

Recipients must sign a scholarship agreement.

In year 2005 and going forward, scholarship recipients or a family member must attend the African-American Read-In to receive their scholarship.

Deadline
For Year 2008:
Applications due to Financial Aid Director:
Second Friday in October

Applications due to DCCCD Foundation:
Second Friday in November

Notification to students:
Prior to Spring Semester

For further information, the DCCCD Foundation
214-860-2053 or 214-860-2149
Email: foundation@dcccd.edu
DCCCD Foundation, Inc., 701 Elm Street, Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75202
Last updated 08/16/07

October 2007