According to Dr. Marita Malone, she had spent several years trying to resolve matters involving her estate when she saw an article about an anonymous donor having created a major new scholarship with The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. That article, coupled with the frustration she had encountered in getting another area nonprofit to return her phone calls, inspired her to do some research on The Scholarship Foundation and make a call to set up a meeting to discuss her vision for a program to be created through her trust.
What she learned in that meeting inspired her confidence. Subsequently, Dr. Malone has established a trust that will at her death create a very generous fund for full scholarships (covering tuition, room, board and incidentals) for students of color from the City of St. Louis. The scholarship will be awarded to students who meet the selection criteria of The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, commit to attend a school at least 135 miles away from St. Louis, and will live in university housing while they are in school. All of these stipulations are responsive to Dr. Malone’s vision that students will be best able to focus on their studies and succeed in their goals if they are fully supported financially and distant enough from home to be fully immersed in the college experience.
Dr. Malone is a retired Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Subsequent to her retirement from the FBI, she was a lecturer at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and University of Virginia-Charlottesville, and an assistant professor at Saint Louis University.
Marita Malone was born in Germany and spent the first years of her life in an orphanage after the end of World War II. She was adopted by a family from Ferguson, Missouri and brought to the United States at the age of four. Dr. Malone is an accomplished author, having described her experiences in a memoir entitled My Mother, My Daughter. Dr. Malone is quick to explain that she understands first-hand the power of education, having received a scholarship that allowed her to progress in her studies. Both her work in criminal justice and her teaching at the post-secondary level have made her well familiar with the challenges young people face navigating their way beyond high school.
At the close of her meeting with Scholarship Foundation staff, Dr. Malone decided it might be useful to select the first scholar this year, so that the concepts underlying this scholarship could be tested and improved. She has committed $100,000 over four years to a scholarship for one student from the City of St. Louis. The scholarship, in addition to any other grant aid the student is awarded from state and federal sources, will be “full ride.” There is no doubt that the legacy of Dr. Malone and the opportunity provided the first scholar will translate “full ride” to mean the opportunity to work hard and learn much, certainly not just a coast to the finish.
The Scholarship Foundation extends deep gratitude to Dr. Marita Malone for her creativity and trust. By the close of spring, the first Marita Malone Scholar will be named and the program will be underway. What a remarkable gift!
To apply for this opportunity, please click here to access Scholarship Central.
