Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) Seeks Applications for $5,000 College Scholarship

It’s our pleasure to announce the availability of the Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) scholarship for the 2011/12 academic year.  

This year, BAM will award two $5,000 scholarships to outstanding high-school seniors, who are interested in pursuing careers in technology. The scholarships are renewable, so winners who continue to meet the criteria can receive an annual $5,000 award for up to four years.  We encourage you to please share this opportunity with your network.

Scholarship Details

• Support Period - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
• Application Due - 05/01/2011
• Anticipated Award Notification - 05/31/2011
• Awards - 2 scholarships will be awarded ($5,000 per person)
• Application Method - Apply electronically via the Washington Scholarship Coaltion
• Renewable - Yes. This scholarship is renewable for up to a total of 4 years, provided the student continues to meet the scholarship criteria of a 3.3 GPA each year.

 Eligibility Requirements

• High School Senior
•  Situations Funded - Support for Tuition, Support for Mandatory Fees, Support for Room and Board
•  School Types - Private 4-year University or College, Public 4-year University or College, Public 2-year Community / Technical College
• Academic Programs - Undergraduate
•  Enrollment Status - Full-time
•  Ethnicity - Black or African American
• Field of Study - Business, Computer Science/Information Technology, Science & Engineering
• Career - Business, Computer Science/Information Technology, Engineering
• GPA - 3.300 or Greater

Application Details

Financial Requirements

• Must demonstrate financial need, Number of family members in household, Number of family dependents attending college, Family income

Instructions & Questions

• Briefly, explain how you have demonstrated a passion for technology.
• Briefly, explain how you have demonstrated leadership either at school or in the community.
• In no more than 500 words, describe how you plan to engage in the technology industry in your future career.
• In no more than 250 words, explain why you need this scholarship.
• Please include two reference letters with your application. These letters should be from people who know you through your academic or employment experience or your community leadership and participation. (Do not include relatives as references.)
• Please submit an unofficial transcript with your online application. Winning students will be required to submit an official transcript.

Donor Organization

Founded in 1989, Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) is a company-sponsored diversity organization dedicated to supporting the continued growth and development of African-American employees of Microsoft Corporation.  More than 500 Microsoft employees are members of BAM.

Scholarship Administrator

The Seattle Foundation

1200 5th Ave. Suite 1300
Seattle, WA 98101-3151

206-515-2115

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This is a wonderful opportunity for any villager with a high school senior in the house, neighborhood or community.   How cool would it be for one of our villagers to win this $5,000 scholarship from Microsoft?!

Letter from Olympic Corporate Sponsor * Microsoft

I recently joined other villagers in sending messages to Olympic corporate sponsors asking them to use their influence over China to make things better in Darfur.

Here is response that I received from Microsoft:

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Thank you for your recent letter to Microsoft regarding the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Beijing Olympics present an opportunity for countries to come together in athletic competition, and to draw attention to universal values such as individual and team endeavor, fair competition, excellence and achievement. The Olympics have the power to transform global relationships, create unity and accelerate positive change in the world.

Microsoft respects the International Olympic Committee’s decision to select China as the host country of this year’s games and is pleased to be able to support the games as a software supplier and a distributor of licensed Olympics coverage through our partnership with NBC Universal.

Like people all around the world, we are shocked and horrified by the violence and human rights violations in Darfur. We commend Dream for Darfur and other organizations for their leadership in casting a spotlight on this atrocity and the need for immediate international resolution. Governments and international organizations – the United Nations chief among them – as well as humanitarian relief organizations - will need to continue to work together locally and globally to address the problems in the Sudan. Microsoft will continue to support these organizations in their mission through technology assistance and other resources.

We appreciate having this opportunity to clarify our position and activities and thank you again for taking the time to share your views with Microsoft.

Sincerely,
Daniel T. Bross, Director
Stakeholder Engagement
Microsoft Corporation

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Have you heard from any of the corporate sponsors that you wrote to about China's role in Darfur?