Upsilon Alpha Omega, the Gwinnett Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., was chartered in Gwinnett County on January 29, 1994. One of the first challenges taken on by the chapter was to establish a scholarship for the students in Gwinnett County. The scholarship was named in honor of one of our chartering members, Mrs. Beauty P. Baldwin. Thus far, we have awarded a number of scholarships totaling thousands of dollars to college-bound women and men.

Upsilon Alpha Omega is offering the Beauty P. Baldwin scholarship to African-American high school seniors to further their educational opportunities. It is the chapter’s goal to aggressively promote post-secondary education endeavors. The scholarship will be awarded to students who meet the following scholarship qualifications:

QUALIFICATIONS
• Must be a Gwinnett County Public School Senior
• Focused on marginalized or disadvantaged communities (male or female)
• Must already be accepted to an accredited four-year college or university
• Must possess leadership potential and discernible good character
• Must demonstrate superior scholastic achievement (minimum 3.00 GPA)

SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION
To be considered for the Beauty P. Baldwin Scholarship, applicants must submit the following by 11:59 PM on Mar 1. 
1. A completed application, it is imperative that the application be completed in full.
2. A one-paged personal statement (500-750 words) summarizing why the applicant should be awarded the Scholarship and how the scholarship will help him/her pursue his/her career ambition. Community service activities should be including  in the personal statement.
3. An uploaded copy of your transcript.  
4. Two letters of recommendations from any combination teachers, counselors, employers, school administrators or ministers.
5. Proof of acceptance in a four-year college or university.

SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION PROCESS
• Completed application that meet the above criteria must be received by Feb 28. (no exceptions). The application will be reviewed for completeness.  Once all items have been received, the application will be forward to the scholarship committee for evaluation.  

• Applicants will be notified by the scholarship committee if they are selected for an interview between the dates of March 3-5.  If not selected, they will be notified.  
• Selected students will be interviewed the week of March 10. 
• Students selected to receive scholarships will be notified March 13-15.

 

Students may apply for all scholarships; only one UAO scholarship will be awarded per student.  

Mrs. Beauty P. Baldwin is a native of Baldwin County, Georgia.  She is a 1963 graduate of Savannah State College (now University) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics.  She earned a Master's and a Specialist's Degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of Georgia.  In 2019, Mrs. Baldwin received an Honorary Doctorate degree from her beloved Savannah State University.  Dr. Baldwin has dedicated more than 50 years of her life to educating the children of Georgia.

Her educational experience includes teaching Mathematics in Schley, Muscogee, and Gwinnett Counties.  She served as a Coordinated Vocational Academics Education Coordinator and Assistant Principal at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia prior to becoming Principal of Buford Middle School.  In June 1984, she made history by becoming the first African-American female superintendent of a Georgia school district when she was appointed Superintendent of Buford City Schools.

Dr. Baldwin retired as Superintendent of Buford City Schools in June 1994.  In 1997, she helped to establish Hopewell Christian Academy where she was Administrator for 16 years.  In June 2014 she founded North Metro Academy of Performing Arts, a Gwinnett County Public Schools Charter School.  In August 2016, the Gwinnett County Board of Education opened a new school in Norcross, GA, Baldwin Elementary School, in her honor.

Dr. Baldwin is involved in many community service organizations.  After 23 years, she retired from the Gwinnett County Board of Registration and Elections and in December 2018, she was honored by the Board of Commissioners by naming the Registration and Elections building “The Gwinnett County Registration and Elections Beauty P. Baldwin Building”.   

Dr. Baldwin is a lifetime member of the Savannah State University Alumni Association and a lifetime member and 50+-year member (Golden Member) of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.  She is a member of Hopewell Baptist Church in Norcross where she serves as a Deaconess and Elder.

She is married to Lucious Baldwin and they have one daughter, Geri, son-in-law Lorenzo Gonzalez and two grandchildren, Loren and Evan.

Upsilon Alpha Omega is offering the Mary Robinson HBCU Scholarship to high school seniors to further their educational opportunities at a HBCU. The scholarship will be awarded to students who meet the following scholarship qualifications:

QUALIFICATIONS
• Must be a Senior attending a High school in Gwinnett County.
• Must already be accepted to an accredited four-year Historically Black college or university
• Must possess leadership potential and discernible good character
• Must demonstrate superior scholastic achievement (minimum 3.00 GPA)

SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION
To be considered for the Mary Robinson HBCU Scholarship, applicants must submit the following by 11:59 PM on Feb 28.
1. A completed application, it is imperative that the application be completed in full.
2. A one-paged personal statement (500-750 words) summarizing why the applicant should be awarded a Scholarship and how the scholarship will help him/her pursue his/her career ambition. Community service activities should be included  in the personal statement.
3. An uploaded copy of your transcript. 
4. Two letters of recommendations from any combination teachers, counselors, employers, school administrators or ministers.
5. Proof of acceptance in a four-year Historically Black college or university.

SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION PROCESS
• Completed applications that meet the above criteria must be received by Feb 28. (no exceptions). The application will be reviewed for completeness.  Once all items have been received, the application will be forward to the scholarship committee for evaluation.  

• Applicants will be notified by the scholarship committee if they are selected for an interview between the dates of March 3-5.  If not selected, they will be notified. 
• Selected students will be interviewed the week of March 10.
• Students selected to receive scholarships will be notified March 13-15.

 

Students may apply for all scholarships; only one UAO scholarship will be awarded per student.

Mary Robinson was born in Washington, Georgia ,where she attended the Wilkes County Public Schools. She grew up in a family where no one had ever attended college; thus she had no thoughts about attending college, no examples of how to go about attending college, and no ideas on how to start the process for a place of higher learning.  Upon the suggestion and assistance from a favorite teacher, she was accepted in 1962 as a Five-Year Plan student at Tuskegee Institute (now University). At that time this plan allowed students to work on campus and earn money to pay for school. After 4 ½ years, Ms. Robinson received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education / English.

Instead of teaching, she accepted a position in Operations with International Business Machines in support of the US NASA project in Huntsville Alabama. She worked for thirty-seven years at IBM in various administrative positions, entry level management and middle management. In the last 15 years of her employment, she worked as a Corporate Internal Auditor with international responsibility for Europe, Middle East and Africa, where she worked from the Paris office for several years.

Ms. Robinson has always been passionate about HBCUs because of the opportunity awarded her; she worked tirelessly to promote their interests including recruiting, co-chairing the Greater Atlanta HBCU College Fair, raising funds for scholarships that enable students to attend these vital institutions, and remaining active in the DeKalb Tuskegee Alumni Association.  For many years, she has been an Alumni Eminent Associate with Tuskegee University; this is the designation for alumni who consistently donate to the University.

For six years ending in 2022, the Upsilon Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated won the Greek Challenge issued by the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance for the Greek Organization that raised the most money and had the largest number of participants for their Annual 5K Run / Walk.  Ms. Robinson led that activity for her Chapter for five of the six years, raising thousands of dollars which was awarded to Gwinnett County students attending HBCUs.  The HBCU Scholarship effort started with three students receiving $1000 each and, in 2022 ten students were awarded $2,500 each! As a result of her effort with the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance, at their 2023 Annual 5K Run / Walk, the organization honored Ms. Robinson with their inaugural Community Cornerstone Recognition, stating that her initial efforts with the Greek Challenge served as a catalyst for other members of the Devine 9 to get involve with this event and provide more scholarships to students attending HBCUs.

Ms. Robinson was married to Robert Robinson for 44 years prior to his death, and has one daughter, Kelli Robinson Edgerton.

 

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Upsilon Alpha Omega Chapter will award this scholarship to one deserving student who meets the following criteria.  

 

QUALIFICATIONS

• Gwinnett County High School Senior at at Public or Private School
• Demonstrate significant leadership and service within their communities, with a focus on uplifting marginalized or disadvantaged populations.  
• Proof of acceptance to an accredited four-year college or university
• Minimum GPA of 3.5
• Written proof of at least 15 hours of community service
• 2 Essays
• 2 Interviews
   

SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION
To be considered for the Georgette Sherman Impact Scholarship, applicants must supply
1. A completed application
2. A  personal statement summarizing why the applicant should be awarded the Impact Scholarship.   The second essay will be selected from one of the essay prompts.  
3. An uploaded copy of your transcript.  
4. Two letters of recommendations from any combination of teachers, counselors, employers, school administrators or ministers.
5. Proof of acceptance to a four-year college or university.

6.  If selected, an additional interview will be required for the IMPACT scholarship.  

 

The student selected to receive the Impact scholarship must meet additional criteria each subsequent year in order to receive the remaining installments of the award.  

 

 

Students may apply for all scholarships; only one  scholarship will be awarded per student.

Essay Prompt for Georgette Sherman Impact Scholarship Applicants only: How have you contributed to your Community? What Community Service project are you most proud to participate in and why?.