2022 Black History Month Scholarships

At Dudley DeBosier, we have 6 Core Values.

1. Do what is right, not what is easy
2. Take care of our team
3. Take care of our clients
4. Do great work
5. Give back
6. And have fun

The late Kinnedy Smith was an incredible young woman who graduated from LSU and joined our team at Dudley DeBosier as an Intake Specialist. Unfortunately, in 2020, her life was taken in a domestic dispute, and our team was shaken to their core.

During her time at LSU, she was heavily involved with BWEI…and staying true to our core values, we wanted to take care of our team by honoring Kinnedy’s legacy. One way we’ve done that is by partnering with BWEI, an organization that she was extremely passionate about.

As you know, the Black Women’s Empowerment Initiative is dedicated to promoting, maintaining, and advancing the well-being of Black Women at LSU. As you also know, February is Black History Month.

Historically during the month of February, most acknowledge and celebrate the lives, legacies, and contributions made to society by African Americans in the past. However, we want to recognize those who are doing things NOW to carry on the legacies and contributions of those who came before them.

With the help of BWEI, we selected four (4) students to recognize within their organization that fit that mold and consistently and passionately go above and beyond to do great things within our community.

Congratulations to Deventria Curtis, Tyler Hunt, Maia Williams, and Hunter Roach!

Our hope is that we were able to play a small role in empowering them to do even more good in our community. To learn more about the incredible women selected, see below. 

Deventria Curtis

Deventria Curtis is a Senior, studying Entrepreneurship and Digital Marketing. She was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In her time here at LSU, she has served as the 3-year consecutive treasurer for Black Women’s Empowerment Initiative, an LSU Resident Assistant, a Leadership LSU fellow, and a Stephenson Department of Entrepreneurship & Information Systems Entrepreneurship fellow. Deventria is also a member of the Eta Kappa Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Outside of school and organizations, she serves as a high school mentor for Baton Rouge Youth Coalition. After graduation, she will be moving to Bentonville, Arkansas to work for Walmart Corporation.

Tyler Hunt

Tyler Hunt is an undergraduate Junior at Louisiana State University double majoring in Political Science with a concentration in Race, Gender, & Equity and African & African American Studies. She is a proud Baton Rouge native, born and raised, and graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School. She is a 2019 LSU Summer Scholars Program alumna and a former member of the Freshman Leadership Council. She is a first cohort scholar of the Black Women’s Empowerment Initiative (established in 2019) where she currently serves on the executive board as the Chair of the organization. She is also a member and former Executive Board Member of the Impact Movement, which is the only Christian Black Organization on LSU’s campus (chapter part of a national organization). She currently serves in the executive branch of the LSU Student Government as the Director of Diversity Policy and the President of the Legislative Black Student Caucus. She formerly served on two committees: the LSU Building Names Committee and LSU Student Government’s Sexual Violence Prevention Committee. She is the newest Legislative Affairs and Policy Intern in the Office of Governor John Bel Edwards and has been offered to remain in the position until the end of the Governor’s term. Tyler plans to graduate from LSU to pursue a career in law, government, and policy reform as well as entrepreneurship right here in Louisiana. She is a proud Tiger through and through!

Maia Williams

Maia Williams was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She is a graduating senior majoring in Animal Sciences – Science & Technology and a Roger Ogden Honors Student. She is a member of the founding cohort of the Black Women’s Empowerment Initiative, which was established in 2019, and serves as their Events Chair. Additionally, Maia is involved in several other organizations on campus, including the Minority Science Pre-Professional Society and the Student Christian Medical Association. She is also a Bible Study Leader at the Catholic Center on campus and formerly served two terms as the Historian of the Pre-Veterinary Club. Maia is currently a Distinguished Undergraduate Research Candidate and works as an Undergraduate Researcher for the Laboratory of Equine and Comparative Orthopedic Research at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. In her junior year, she successfully defended her Honors Thesis on the Characterization of Adult Feline Stem Cells. She is currently applying to various Master’s of Public Health programs and plans to go to medical school with the goal of one day creating programing that allows medical professionals to acknowledge and address racial bias in medicine.

Hunter Roach

Hunter Roach is an undergraduate Junior and a proud Texas tiger from the Dallas-Fort Worth area whose major is Kinesiology with a concentration in Human Movement Sciences. At LSU she has been a member of the Association of Pre-Physical Therapy Students for the past three years. She also is a part of the founding cohort of the Black Women’s Empowerment Initiative and currently holds the executive position of Community Outreach Chair. Outside of LSU, she is a BRYC mentor, volunteers at Baton Rouge General Hospital and is currently working with Empower 225 to establish a mentoring program in northern Baton Rouge. Hunter will be applying to physical therapy programs this summer with aspirations of becoming a Pediatric Physical Therapist.

Related Posts