College to Hold Virtual MLK Tribute This Month

WINTERVILLE—Pitt Community College will celebrate the life of civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 13 with the 10th Annual MLK Jr. Scholarship Tribute.

The event begins at 10 a.m. and will take place virtually due to COVID-19, with Ahoskie Mayor Weyling White serving as keynote speaker. A link to participate in the online tribute, which has been organized by the PCC Multicultural Activities Committee (MAC), is available on the PCC Foundation website.

In addition to serving as mayor of his hometown, White is also a public health advocate within his community. He currently serves as practice administrator for the Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center.

Along with White’s remarks, Thursday’s program will feature the presentation of the 2022 MAC Scholarship to prospective PCC nursing student Alvaro Ramirez Serafin. The scholarship, which is awarded each year in honor or memory of an individual who shares King’s ideals, is being presented in honor of Dr. Paul Cunningham, surgeon and former dean of East Carolina University’s (ECU) Brody School of Medicine.

Cunningham, who served as keynote speaker for Pitt’s 2019 MLK Tribute, is a native of Jamaica. He moved to North Carolina in 1981 to practice medicine at Bertie Memorial Hospital and teach ECU medical students. When he retired from his dean’s position in 2016, he was given the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his many outstanding contributions to health care in North Carolina.

Though this year’s MLK Tribute is free to attend, donations to fund future MAC Scholarships at PCC are being accepted and can be made using an online form available on the PCC Foundation website. With approximately 67 percent of Pitt’s student population receiving some form of financial aid in any given semester, the MAC Scholarship and others like it help make higher education accessible to the entire community.

01/06/2022