The 58, middle-school students from 29 eastern Kentucky counties, have been inducted into the University of Kentucky's Robinson Scholars Program. The Robinson Scholars Program, which inducted its first class in 1997, provides full college tuition, room and board and books during the students' college careers to students who otherwise would be unable to pursue a degree. The students must maintain an acceptable grade point average and graduate from high school to receive their scholarships. Each year, UK officials plan to name a new group of eighth-graders to the program. The parents of the selected students also have not attained a college degree.
Students apply for consideration through their schools' guidance counselor.
Funded by earnings from coal mining and logging operations permitted on nearly 4,000 acres of the 14,000-acre Robinson Forest in Breathitt, Perry and Knott counties, the program was established by the UK Board of Trustees in 1995. The board utilized the E.O. Robinson Trust to provide increased educational opportunities in eastern Kentucky, where college attendance is historically low compared to other regions of the state. The Robinson Trust was established in 1922 by Edward O. Robinson, a logging magnate who gave the university 14,000 acres that his firm had logged. The trust carried a stipulation that it be used primarily for reforestation and agricultural research or for the benefit of the people of the mountain region. Sarah Lynn Gillespie, daughter of Larry Gillespie of Campton, and Johnny Lee Hollon, son of Jackie and Emma Jean Hollon of Pine Ridge.