THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609080039
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH BLUEMINK, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 47 lines
A University of Virginia assistant dean credited with increasing minority enrollment at the university will leave in December to take charge of a national scholarship program dedicated to the memory of former Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown.
Michael A. Mallory, an assistant admissions dean, will be the first executive director of the Ron Brown Scholars Program. Vice President Al Gore announced the creation of the program at a fund-raising event during the Democratic convention in Chicago.
The Ron Brown Scholars Program will grant $10,000-a-year renewable scholarships to 10 talented African-American high school seniors from across the country. The program will be funded by the CAP Foundation, a private organization founded by Antony Pilaro, who graduated from U.Va.'s law school in 1960.
The program will bear many similarities to U.Va.'s Jerome Holland Scholarship program, which Mallory helped expand after he joined the admissions office in 1989. The Holland program, which also receives funding from the CAP Foundation, awards seven $10,000 scholarships annually to black students.
Both programs are ``dedicated to recruiting the most talented African-American students in the country,'' said Mallory, who received his bachelor's degree from U.Va. in 1980 and his master's degree in education in 1986.
Aside from his success with the Holland scholarships, Mallory's recruitment efforts have increased the number of black applicants more than 60 percent in the past seven years, Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said. Of this fall's freshmen, 12 percent are African-American.
Mallory ``has been building up the comfort level for black entrants so that we now have a solid level of interest,'' Blackburn said. ``This allows us to be quite selective.''
Mallory said, ``I will miss the university; it's been a part of my life since I was an undergraduate.''
Mallory said his goal for the Ron Brown Scholars Program is to nurture future black leaders as well as provide opportunities to perform community service through internships.
Mallory said he will also be working with Mike Brown, the son of Ronald Brown and president of the Ronald H. Brown Foundation, to coordinate internships at major corporations, including AT&T, American Airlines, Westinghouse and Walt Disney Corp. by CNB