Dr. Kenyatta Rivers Memorial Scholarship Endowed Fund

This scholarship will be awarded this upcoming Fall semester

Kenyatta Rivers, Ph.D., was a faculty member in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Central Florida from 1996 – 2019; he retired as an Associate Professor in August 2019. Dr. Rivers’ areas of scholarly expertise were multi-cultural issues in communication sciences and disorders, as well as language disorders in school-age children and in individuals with traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Rivers was a devoted, conscientious, and caring professor who touched the lives of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students over the course of his career. He was a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and was very active with the McNair Scholars program at UCF, the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologist, and the National Black Speech-Language-Hearing Association (NBASLH). Dr. Rivers served as both a formal and informal mentor for a wide range of students at the University of Central Florida and around the nation.

In honor of his years of devotion to the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at UCF, Dr. Rivers’ colleagues wish to establish a Scholarship in honor of his retirement.

Recipient Criteria

In order to apply:

• Applicant must provide a brief essay (one page, double spaced, 12-point font) that includes the following: professional goals, why mentorship is important, how they have or plan to mentor others. All essays will be reviewed by the college scholarship committees. In addition, recipients’ essays might be shared with donors.
• Applicant must have a minimum UCF GPA of 3.0.
• Recommended but not required: Applicant can provide a letter of recommendation from a faculty member in the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders.

At the time the scholarship is disbursed, the applicant must meet the following criteria:

• Must be enrolled as a full-time undergraduate degree student majoring in Communication Sciences & Disorders
• Must have completed 30 undergraduate credit hours
• Must have a minimum UCF GPA of 3.0

Preference given to students involved in the McNair Scholars program, the Black Student Union, or the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing.
Preference will be given to applicant(s) the provide a brief essay (less than two (2) pages, double spaces and 12-point font that includes the following: professional goals, why mentorship is important, how they have or plan to mentor others.