Scholarships are a welcome and much needed part of many students’ quest for higher education.

Together, Demopolis’ Dr. Ronnie Chu and J.R. Rivas have formed two scholarships: the Rivas & Chu Family Scholarship and the Future Leaders of Demopolis Scholarship.

“I know that most students get scholarships by being very smart and receiving scholarships through high test scores and academics or either they receive educational monies through grants.” Chu told the Times. “We wanted to develop scholarships to those whose parents work hard to earn a living, their children are deserving and they might get left out or overlooked.”

That’s quite an ambitious proposal but it’s one that’s needed in our area.

The two scholarships will be offered to an incoming freshman to The University of West Alabama as well as a student currently enrolled at UWA.

Each of the scholarships will be for one year’s tuition.

Chu and Rivas are also looking to start a third scholarship that will be given away next fall and they hope to encourage other local businessmen and women alike to join their efforts.

In this economic climate, that may not be as possible as one would hope. However, Dr. Chu and Rivas found the means and resources to jump feet first into this venture and we hope there are others who will see fit to join them.

The third scholarship will not be limited to the use of UWA. The scholarship can be used at other universities.

The scholarships will be given to those in high standing and a grade point average of at least 3.0.

We encourage all local businesses to analyze their bottom lines and see if there is a little room to help provide a better future for some of our best and brightest, and we thank Dr. Chu and J.R. Rivas for leading this charge.