NEWS RELEASE
May 27 2003
UniSA
scholarships for Indigenous achievers
Five years ago Yhonnie Scarce was working in an
administration job, the dream of studying at university just that – a
dream. Today she is on track to be one of the first Aboriginal Australians to gain
a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in glass from the University of South
Australia – and a deserving recipient of the Irene and David Davy
Scholarship.
This
Thursday, May 29, Yhonnie Scarce and final year nursing student Sharon
Bilney will be both be presented with a $4,000 Irene and David Davy
Scholarship at 6.30pm in the Hetzel Room at UniSA’s City West campus.
The scholarship, open to Australian Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islander students in the final year of an undergraduate
program at the University of South Australia, was established thanks to a
bequest by Irene and David Davy, two South Australians whose own limited
formal education never stopped them from encouraging others to follow
their academic goals.
Irene Davy, part of the Gunditjmara language
group, was born in Dimboola in 1929 and spent most of her working life as
a nurse's aid and cook. With no children of their own, Irene and her
husband David took a special interest in their many nieces and nephews,
their support helping David's niece Margaret become one of the few working
class women to study medicine, and Irene's niece, Judy Moffatt to become
the first Aboriginal accepted into the nurse's training program at Lyell
McEwin Hospital.
This is the first year that the scholarship has been
awarded to two students.
For Yhonnie, the $4,000 has come at just the right
time. She says she'll use it to buy art supplies and pay her student fees.
For any other Indigenous students not sure if they have
a chance at winning a scholarship, Yhonnie has this to say: "Don't be
afraid to give it a go. If you don't win it first time, try again. Be
persistent."
And as for the future, Yhonnie hopes to travel overseas
to see what other glass artists are doing around the world - and she also
aims to put something back into the community, by working with Indigenous
youth on artistic projects.
"I want to inspire Aboriginal youth to stay at
school," she says. I didn't go to Uni until my late 20s and now I
wish I had done it earlier."
What: Presentation of the Irene and David Davy Scholarship
for Advancement of Aboriginal Education
When: Thursday, May 29, 2003
Where: Hetzel Room, Level 4 Yungondi Building, City West
campus, UniSA
RSVP: Desiree Utting ph: (08) 8302 0964
Media contacts:
Michele Nardelli, tel:
0418 823 673 or
Desiree Utting,
tel:
(08) 8302 0964 or
0417 825 411
Need an expert?
Find one at UniSA’s online Directory of Experts -
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/MDU/MDU-search.asp
.
