On Monday, November 22, the president and CEO of Meharry Medical College, Dr. James Hildreth, announced that the HBCU would be gifting 956 students $10,000 ahead of Thanksgiving.
According to the Tennessean, the college had decided to allocate funds for students in order to help them relieve their financial debt from the coronavirus pandemic.
Students were expected to receive the money on Wednesday, November 24.
In his Thanksgiving message, Hildreth gave the happy news, thanked his faculty and staff members, and added a special shout-out to the students who are “the future of health care, public health, and research that is entrusted to you.”
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The Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds are part of the federal CARES Act’s COVID-19 aid package and is the source of funding for the money.
Hildreth said that the distribution of the money is in the best interest of those “who will soon give so much to our world.”
Benson Joseph, who is a senior at the school, said he’s still figuring out how to use his gift. Still, he plans to set an amount aside to help with his travel expenses when he sets off for interviews to residency programs next year, as well as for other costs financial aid does not cover.
Joseph, a Palm Beach, Florida resident, plans to pursue neurosurgery and said he initially questioned the gift when he heard about it from his friends.
After hearing the announcement from the school’s president, he said, “It feels like Christmas came a little bit early.” He added, “The last two years have been quite a trial for a lot of us.”
According to Hildreth, students are able to use the money however they please, but he did urge the student body to put it to good use for their education and training.
