Samuel H. Prince
King’s is re-establishing the Prince Scholarship to be awarded to an African Nova Scotian student entering the Foundation Year Program and pursuing a degree in arts, science, journalism (honours) or music. King’s President William (Bill) Lahey made the announcement at this week’s Formal Meal, one of the College’s venerable traditions.
Named for Dr. Samuel Prince (1886-1960), the scholarship is valued at $6,000 and will be renewable for four years, bringing the total value of the scholarship to $24,000 over four years.
Dr. Prince was an Anglican priest, pioneering sociologist, King’s professor and builder of the social welfare state, in Nova Scotia and Canada, who played a leading role in founding the Maritime School of Social Work at Dalhousie University. In 1959, thanks to a benefactor who requested anonymity, King’s established the first Prince Scholarship—a renewable $1,000 scholarship awarded to an African-Nova Scotian student. It was available for 10 years until funding lapsed. Previous Prince Scholarship winners Gordon Sinclair Earle, BA’63 (recipient in 1959) and Mureena Hebert, BA’72 (recipient in 1969) were in attendance when the re-established scholarship was announced.
Previous scholarship recipients Mureena Hebert and Gordon Sinclair Earle were in attendance for the announcement.
Saying he was “delighted” to announce the Prince Scholarship’s reestablishment, Bill acknowledged the generosity of gifts from private donors who made re-establishment of the scholarship with endowed funding possible. “Our goal is to keep growing this fund so we can increase the value of the scholarship and ultimately offer more than one scholarship at a time,” Bill said. “We look forward to meeting Prince scholars of the future who will carry on the great legacies of past recipients like Gordon and Mureena.”
Chair of King’s Board of Governors Doug Ruck, who graduated from King’s in 1972, spoke at the announcement, citing his own experience as an African-Nova Scotian coming to King’s in the late 1960s. As an applicant, he recalled reading the King’s calendar and learning there was a scholarship for black students. At the time, King’s was the only university in Nova Scotia with such a scholarship.
“It was like putting a welcome mat at the top of the stairs of the university’s Arts and Administration Building,” Doug said. “This little university at the corner of Coburg Road had a scholarship named for Samuel Prince; a scholarship that recognized the need for diversity.”
Board Chair Doug Ruck.
Doug credited King’s with inspiring him to pursue a career in law and public service that has included serving as the province’s ombudsman and as Chair of the Nova Scotia Labour Board as well as volunteering with many community organizations.
“Doors are opened by others. Doors are opened by those who go ahead of us,” Doug said to the crowd of faculty, staff and over 100 students present for the announcement. “Time will go by and you’ll be able to improve upon what others put in place.”
Applications for the Prince Scholarship will open in November.
To learn more about Samuel Prince, read Dr. Henry Roper’s address.
