9 High Schoolers Land HBCU Scholarships

Not so long ago, Highville senior Makayla Martin found herself standing atop construction scaffolding, gazing down at the the nails she’d hammered into a frame that would soon become a house for a neighbor in her city.

She was volunteering at Habitat for Humanity to qualify for a burgeoning local scholarship for historically Black colleges — a scaffold, of sorts, for the future she’ll build for herself next year at Howard University.

Martin was one of nine New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) seniors selected for that scholarship — the James W.C. Pennington Fellowship — this year. Each fellow will receive $80,000 over the course of four years to fund their education at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).

Martin celebrated the accomplishment with the eight other seniors on the second floor of City Hall on Tuesday morning. 

“I plan to become an entrepreneur, teaching other women — especially women of color — how to be an entrepreneur,” Martin said as she accepted a Howard pennant in front of the crowd.

Martin said she hopes to study business management in college. She doesn’t know exactly what kind of business she’ll start, but she does know that she wants a career that feels like standing upon scaffolding and looking down at a house built for someone else.

Initially, Martin said, she viewed the scholarship’s 40-hour community service mandate as a requirement to tick off. But once she actually started volunteering at nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity and New Haven Reads, she found a sense of fulfillment in helping her community. Those experiences inspired her dream of becoming not only an entrepreneur but a mentor one day, said Martin.

As she spoke, her mom, Natasha Lewis, beamed in pride. ​“She’s been diligent,” Lewis said. ​“She has her head on her shoulders.”

The scholarship, administered by New Haven Promise and funded by Yale, supports New Haven students attending HBCUs for college. Yale created the program three years ago in an effort to reckon with its historic ties to slavery and exclusion of Black Americans. 

In another universe, the nation’s first Historically Black college might have been founded right in New Haven, had city and Yale officials not successfully thwarted such a proposal in 1831. 

Rev. James Pennington, the scholarship’s namesake, was born enslaved in the early nineteenth century and escaped at the age of 19. He eventually became the first Black student to take classes at Yale through the university’s Divinity School. Yale refused to formally admit him because of his race and did not allow him to speak in class or borrow books from the library. He became an internationally renowned abolitionist.

“He freed himself — and that’s important,” said CT Freedom Trail Chair and scholarship essay reader Charles Warner Jr. 

HBCUs were ​“built to educate the recently enslaved people freed from the civil war,” Warner told the students. ​“Almost 200 years later, you all will be just another link in that chain of leadership. … It’s your job to then spread that opportunity to the people around you.”

This year’s Pennington scholarship recipients come from six high schools and will be attending four different universities. In addition to Martin’s alma mater, Highville Charter School, the fellows hail from Hillhouse (Howard-bound Jayona Salmond), Wilbur Cross (Dyani Dolberry, headed to North Carolina A&T), Career (Aniya Avery, headed to Howard), Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School (Hampton-bound Trinity Mooring and Xavier Smith), High School in the Community (incoming North Carolina A&T student Sau’mora Short and incoming Morgan State student Ashanti Troutman), and New Haven Academy (Morgan State-bound Lashae Fairweather). The students span aspiring lawyers, business leaders, and mental health and medical professionals. 

“You represent the amazing youth of our city,” said Supt. Madeline Negrón.

“Leave New Haven to gain that knowledge and broaden your horizons,” said Mayor Justin Elicker, ​“but don’t forget about New Haven.” He told the students that the city is excited to hopefully welcome them back. 

According to New Haven Promise Director Patricia Melton, it’s very common for New Haven Promise students to return to the city after graduating: ​“Kids love the city, and the city loves them.”

Ashanti Troutman said she found out about the scholarship from a variety of resource fairs and presentations at her school, High School in the Community. Troutman said the financial support from the Pennington scholarship was what tipped the scales in favor of attending Morgan State. She now plans to study to become a doctor specializing in OB-GYN medicine. 

“I really want to go to an HBCU,” she said. ​“I just really love my people.”