The following is text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement to expand outreach and support for Savannah State University (SSU) in Georgia, a historically black university, as part of the Coast Guard's Minority-Serving Institutions Partnership Program.
This memorandum of agreement with the university was spearheaded by Capt. Bryan L. Durr, chief, Office of Logistics, and is designed to optimize outreach and engagement efforts and synergize the Coast Guard's overall civilian and military officer recruitment effort. It will assist SSU with additional tuition-saving choices and academic options and solutions for SSU students, plus provide significant research opportunities for SSU and the Coast Guard to explore.
The Coast Guard's executive champion for this partnership is Albert Curry Jr., deputy assistant commandant for engineering and logistics. This office will serve as the lead Coast Guard command and work closely with all Coast Guard and SSU stakeholders to forge an enduring collaboration. Also part of this team are Ensign Hannah Sphar, Ensign Nathan Wilson, Lt. Allice Gholson and Lt. Tierre Leak, all of whom are SSU alumni, and Chief Kellyn Montesino, recruiter-in-charge, Recruiting Office Savannah, Ga.
SSU is one of more than 100 historically black colleges and universities and offers 36 baccalaureate and masters degree programs and three certificate programs within its four schools: the College of Business Administration, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, the College of Sciences and Technology and the School of Teacher Education.
Central to this partnership is the Coast Guard's College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) scholarship program, available to students enrolled at minority-serving institutions, and there have been eight CSPI graduates from SSU. More information about CSPI can be found at:
https://www.gocoastguard.com/active-duty-careers/officer-opportunities/programs/college-student-pre-commissioning-initiative.
