ATLANTA & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Morgan Stanley and Spelman College today announced its first cohort of students selected to participate in the inaugural , an integrated program to support students at three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Five outstanding first-year students have been selected to receive the four-year scholarships to Spelman, which will cover tuition, room and board in order to fully remove financial barriers to higher education.

The goal of the HBCU Scholars Program is to set students up on a path to educational attainment and financial independence by lifting the barrier of higher education costs. In addition, Morgan Stanley is implementing programming aimed at preparing scholars for their post-graduate careers, as well as related programming offered to the broader student body and faculty, including virtual and on-site components to complement the on-campus curriculum. To round out the support, the HBCU Scholars Program will include Morgan Stanley mentors and sponsors to support the scholars along their journey.

“Educational attainment is a key focus area for our , which includes investing in the institutions, such as Spelman, that contribute to diversifying the talent pipeline entering the workforce,” said Susan Reid, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Morgan Stanley and Director of the Institute for Inclusion. “I would like to congratulate the five incoming Spelman students we are welcoming into the inaugural class – we are greatly impressed with their achievements so far and look forward to working with them on their journey to success.”

The initiative was developed by Morgan Stanley’s newly established and is a part of the Firm’s larger mission to create an integrated, holistic and transparent diversity and inclusion strategy, both internally and externally.

From volunteers at local hospitals to talented musicians, the first five students selected to become Morgan Stanley HBCU Scholars at Spelman possess impressive resumes that include internships, community service projects and academic achievements.

“We know that income inequality in the African American community often creates a barrier between the best and brightest students and their college education,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., President of Spelman. “Through this generous scholarship our students will have the opportunity to focus on their studies and future careers without the burden of financial debt.”

The program will begin in the fall 2021 semester. The 2021 class of Howard University and Morehouse College scholars will be announced in the coming weeks.

Spelman College Class of 2025 Morgan Stanley HBCU Scholars:

A'miyah Adams

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cheyenne Cisse

Aurora, Colorado

Kenya Handfield

Miami, Florida

Trinity McKinney

Memphis, Tennessee

Lanasya Thomas

Chicago, Illinois

To learn more about the participating HBCUs, please visit , , and .

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit .

About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder , Starbucks Group President and COO , political leader , former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president , actress and producer , global bioinformatics geneticist and authors and . For more information, visit .

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