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Antilles School Students Get Rare University Scholarship Opportunity

April 21, 2008 — Seniors at Antilles School will, as of next year, enjoy an opportunity to qualify for an extraordinary scholarship from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.
Antilles has been invited to become a nominating school for the Morehead-Cain Scholars Program at UNC-Chapel Hill, which not only pays four years of tuition and expenses but also four summers' worth of enrichment programs.
Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, Antilles joins some 375 secondary schools around the nation hand selected by UNC to annually nominate one of their seniors for the Morehead-Cain program, according to Head of School Paul Horovitz. Being selected for this program is an honor, he said.
"Absolutely," Horovitz said. "When someone from a highly competitive program like the Morehead-Cain Foundation looks at us and says, 'You qualify,' that's an exceptional vote of confidence in who we are and what we do. It's not just us sitting around in a circle telling ourselves we're good."
Three Antilles students have been accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill recently, one of whom is a graduating senior, said Christopher Teare, Antilles' college counselor. Acceptance there, he said, is prestigious.
"UNC-Chapel Hill is regarded by many as one of the so-called public ivies, one of the very best public universities in the nation," Teare explained. "It's a great nationally recognized university that has a great tradition of scholarship and also athletic success. Two famous alums are former CBS News anchor Charles Kuralt and NBA legend Michael Jordan."
The Morehead-Cain program draws from a pool of approximately 325 nominated candidates each year — 250 from within North Carolina and approximately 70 from out-of-state schools, as well as four British candidates. A total of 75 to 85 is then selected for the scholarship which, in addition to paying full undergraduate tuition, covers housing, meals and travel expenses. The scholarship also covers expenses for a "gap year" should qualified students decide to do community service for a year before entering college. The total scholarship is estimated at $140,000.
Additionally, the Morehead-Cain program funds four years of summer-enrichment programs that require students to spend one summer in an outdoor activity, another in community service, another doing grant-funded work — possibly abroad — and the final year working as an intern in the public or private sector.
The summer-enrichment program is the jewel in the program's crown, according to one recipient of the scholarship and the Antilles parent who suggested to Horovitz that the school apply for the nominating privilege.
"Essentially, these kids can go almost anywhere in the world to do all sorts of amazing things, and it’s fully funded, fully paid for and it happens for four summers," said Roy Flood, a cardiologist on St. Thomas. "With the connections they make they really go on to do remarkable things with their lives."
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