Dr. Jermaine Whirl, President of Augusta Technical College, and his wife, Mrs. Marqueta Whirl have pledged $10,0000 to create a new endowed scholarship fund at Augusta Tech. Called the Dr. Jermaine Whirl Presidential Leadership Scholarship, the annual award will be given to the student who is elected as the College’s Student Government Association President.

“My wife and I feel it is important to show our personal support for the students, so we wanted to create a scholarship fund,” Dr. Whirl said. “I think leadership skills are incredibly important to a student’s future career success. By honoring students who are elected by their peers, this scholarship demonstrates the value of leadership.”

The first recipient of the new scholarship is 2024-2025 SGA President Rashell Tanner, who will complete an Associate’s degree in design and media production later this year. She previously completed four Technical Certificates of Credit at Augusta Tech: these include design and media production; digital illustration; graphic design and prepress technician; and web interface design technician. She was elected last spring to serve as this year’s SGA President. Additionally, she was selected in a competitive process to receive Augusta Tech’s Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) for this year. Next month, she will travel to Atlanta to compete against the other GOAL recipients for the statewide title.

The Whirls’ scholarship has been established with the Augusta Technical College Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to raise and appropriate philanthropic resources that will support Augusta Technical College in carrying out its mission of excellence in workforce education. In addition to administering dozens of scholarship endowments, the Foundation is actively raising funds to support the College’s expansion at the new Jim Hudson Automotive Institute on Walton Way, the Accelerate Augusta business incubator on Broad Street, the planned Advanced Manufacturing learning center in Columbia County, the golf maintenance program at The Patch, and many other projects.