West Virginia State University Student Selected as Finalist for Propel Center Scholarship

9/20/2022

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Contact: Jack Bailey
(304) 766-4109
Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) junior Cedric Caschetta has been named a finalist for the 2022 Propel Center Student Impact Scholarship, a program designed to support students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who are interested in pursuing careers in entrepreneurship, arts and entertainment, agri-tech, social justice, energy and health.

Caschetta, a Criminology with Forensic Investigations major at WVSU from Lowell, Indiana, was among 88 HBCU students across the nation to be named a finalist for the scholarship program. The scholarship program is in collaboration with Apple and Southern Company.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity,” Caschetta said. “It’s a very humbling thing for me. In high school, you hear about applying for many scholarships because you just don’t know which ones, if any, you will get. This will help me open new doors to what’s next.”

Finalists in the program receive $10,000 in academic scholarship funds, along with unique and cutting-edge work-based learning opportunities. HBCU students who are sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students were eligible to participate in the program. Applicants were challenged to complete and submit an online application, and a self-created video or infographic describing how their career interest in one of the designated industry pillars aligned with the Propel mission and vision.

“Bold and innovative programs such as these are essential to preparing HBCU students for the global workforce and careers in the future,” said Dr. Charles J. Gibbs, president of the Propel Center-HBCU Consortium. “We were honored to launch this competitive scholarship program that will unlock unprecedented new opportunities for our Black scholars at HBCUs, and level the playing field.”

In June 2022, Caschetta was named a 2022 HBCU scholar by the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through HBCUs. He is attending the National HBCU Week Conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, September 20-23, 2022.

Caschetta, who also plays football for the WVSU Yellow Jackets, said he hopes to become a civil law lawyer in the future.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land-grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.