The granddaughter of Key Wester Hortense Burgohy-Edwards has been selected as one of 20 high school graduates nationally to receive an inaugural scholarship financed by a $40 million donation by the co-founder of Netflix and his wife to the prestigious all-female Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Burgohy-Edwards’ granddaughter, Aliyah Webster, graduated in June with top-tier academic honors from Ocean Lakes High School Math and Science Academy in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is a recipient of the Dovey Johnson Roundtree Presidential Scholarship, which was funded by philanthropists Patty Quillin and her husband, Reed Hastings, chairman and CEO of Netflix. These billionaire donors have aligned their resources with social action by donating a total of $120 million to the historically black colleges Spelman and Morehouse, as well as to the United Negro College Fund. This gift is the largest-ever contribution by an individual to support scholarships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The scholarship is named for one of Spelman’s most accomplished alumni.
As a result of this donation, over the next 10 years, 200 incoming first-year college students, including 2020 scholarship recipient Aliyah Webster, will be able to attend Spelman College with a full, four-year scholarship from Quillin and Hastings, who are committed to educational equity.
Webster, whose mother, Kim, is a native of Key West, graduated near the top of her class with a cumulative 4.42 GPA and will begin her freshman year at Spelman College this month. Webster plans to major in biochemistry and is committed to using her interdisciplinary STEM background to become a leader in the effort to develop cures for debilitating diseases. She is the daughter of proud parents Gary and Kim Webster, who reside in Virginia Beach.
