2022 Posse Scholars at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts: Valeria Angulo Circa, Devin Gibbs, Ella McGovern, Tanaja Payne, Desirae Powell, and Bria Wright.
“The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust has pledged $2.28M to support full tuition scholarships for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) Posse Arts Program,” writes Taylor Grant in Wednesday’s (2/22) Musical America (subscription required). “Founded in 2021, the three-partner program (with Bard College and California Institute of the Arts) helps recruit, support, and train students, many of whom come from underrepresented communities and are often the first members of their families to attend college. The Posse Arts Program was initially an initiative of the North Carolina-based Posse Foundation … with the Miranda Family Fund created by the composer/performer Lin-Manuel Miranda. UNCSA welcomed its first cohort of Arts Posse Scholars—six students studying in the schools of Drama, Filmmaking, and Music—in 2022, and this year has added an additional student attending the School of Design & Production. The Kenan Charitable Trust pledge will underwrite a massive expansion of the program, supporting the current Arts Posse cohort as well as many as ten additional students in each of the next three years…. Support includes eight months of leadership training prior to a student’s arrival on campus, full tuition, housing, meal plans, fees, on-campus mentors, and other associated costs.”
