UNCSA Receives $2.28M Gift From William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust To Support Posse Arts Scholarships

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has received a pledge of $2.28 million in support from the Chapel Hill-based William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust. The funds will support a massive expansion of the UNCSA Posse Arts Program, an initiative of The Posse Foundation conceived in collaboration with the Miranda Family Fund.

UNCSA is one of three partner institutions in the Posse Arts Program, founded in 2021, which is an expansion of the Posse Scholars program that helps recruit, train and support talented students who might be missed through traditional avenues. Many Posse Scholars are often the first in their families to attend college or come from historically underrepresented communities. These students arrive in a cohort of peers - an "Arts Posse" - and receive full-tuition scholarships from partner institutions, on-campus mentoring, and other support services. UNCSA welcomed its first cohort of Arts Posse Scholars in 2022: six students studying in the schools of Drama, Filmmaking and Music. The 2023 Posse has been selected and adds a student attending the School of Design & Production as well as students in Drama, Filmmaking and Music (see below).

"The Posse Arts Program brings so much to our university," said Chancellor Brian Cole. "I have enjoyed meeting members of the first Arts Posse Scholars cohort and look forward to seeing what these gifted emerging artists will accomplish on our campus in the years to come, and in their careers. We are deeply grateful to the Kenan Charitable Trust for giving this program the opportunity to grow and flourish."

To date, financial support for the Posse Arts Program at UNCSA has come from The Posse Foundation and local donors within North Carolina. The commitment from the Kenan Charitable Trust will, in conjunction with these existing funds, fully support the current Arts Posse cohort, as well as the next three program cohorts of up to 10 students per year, growing the number of funded participants to as many as 36 by the 2025-26 academic year. Support for these students will include full tuition, housing, meal plans, fees, on-campus mentors, and other associated costs of attendance. During this period of full funding, UNCSA will seek permanently endowed funding to continue the program in perpetuity.

The Kenan Charitable Trust has long been a champion of UNCSA. The organization established the Kenan Excellence Scholarship at UNCSA in 2005 and endowed the scholarship with gifts of $6 million in 2011 and an additional $5 million in 2019. The Trust's new commitment to the Posse Arts Program further solidifies the Kenan Trust's legacy as one of the largest scholarship donors in university history.

"The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust is honored to be a part of the artistic training for the next generation of artists," said Dr. Nancy J. Cable, the Trust's executive director. "The Posse Arts Program represents a transformative new resource for recruiting, nurturing and educating artists from all over the country, and we know that they will enhance the artistic and cultural fabric of our society."

Full-tuition scholarships are a key component of UNCSA Forward, the university's five-year strategic plan. In addition to the expansion of the Posse Arts Program, efforts are underway to expand and enhance scholarship opportunities in all five of the university's arts schools: the schools of Dance, Design & Production, Drama, Filmmaking, and Music.

The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust's pledge will begin to fund Posse Arts Program students in the 2023-24 academic year and will support additional cohorts of students in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.

The artists selected for the 2023 cohort of Arts Posse Scholars at UNCSA are:

• Jolie Cannava (School of Drama), New World School of the Arts, Miami
• Cebastian Gomez (School of Design & Production, wig and makeup design), Denver North High School, Denver, Colorado
• Zitlali Graciano (School of Music, voice), Moises E. Molina High School, Dallas, Texas
• Leslie Garcia-Rivera (School of Filmmaking), Mallard Creek High School, Charlotte
• Rubee Carter (School of Filmmaking), G.W. Carver High School of Engineering & Science, Philadelphia
• Andrea Estrada (School of Filmmaking), School for the Talented & Gifted, Dallas, Texas
• Justice Ratliff (School of Music, horn), Olive Branch High School, Olive Branch, Mississippi
• Bryson Fink (School of Music, double bass), Sumter High School, Sumter, South Carolina
• David Hernandez (School of Drama), New World School of the Arts, Miami