Samford University has renamed its minority student scholarship for the late John T. Porter, who served as pastor of Birmingham’s historic Sixth Avenue Baptist Church for nearly 40 years. Porter was also a leader in the civil rights movement, leading protest marches in Birmingham and hosting activist meetings in his church. He is immortalized, along with other leaders, in a sculpture in Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park.
The name of the scholarship, announced Feb. 26, is now the Rev. John T. Porter Minority Scholarship. Porter served on Samford’s board of trustees from 1991 until his death in 2006. He was the first black selected as a Samford trustee. Porter also was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 2001.
The scholarship fund was begun in 2003 through the efforts of then Samford undergraduate student Jewel Littleton. Initial efforts raised about $7,000, and the first scholarships were awarded about three years ago. The fund has now grown to more than $21,000.
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