ORONO — The University of Maine System has launched a new scholarship program, made possible by the Harold Alfond Foundation, for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds who wish to pursue graduate degrees full time in a vibrant, interdisciplinary environment.

Each year, Harold Alfond Foundation Ambassador Scholarships will provide full tuition and other funds to six incoming students enrolled in graduate-level programs in business, law, public health, planning, public and nonprofit management, and policy offered by one of the Maine Graduate and Professional Center’s collaborating academic programs, according to a news release from Rebecca Gilbert, program manager, University of Maine Graduate & Professional Center.

The programs include the University of Maine Graduate School of Business, the University of Maine School of Law and the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service.

The scholarship program is part of a broader effort by UMS to make higher education affordable and accessible to students with financial need and diverse lived experiences, and to establish a pipeline of diverse professionals entering the Maine workforce.

The inaugural Alfond Ambassadors are Mahmuda Alam, a master’s student of public health in USM’s Muskie School of Public Service; Wilsan Mohamed, a master’s student of policy, planning and management with the Muskie School; Jean de la Passion Ilunga and Cindy Padilla, both MBA students with the UMaine Graduate School of Business; and Zion Mercado and Susan-Caitlyn Seavey, both Juris Doctor candidates with Maine Law. They will begin receiving funds this fall to conduct their studies, all while engaging with career development services, networking with members of the employer community and participating in interdisciplinary activities.

For more information about Harold Alfond Foundation Ambassador Scholarship program, visit mainelaw.maine.edu.

For more information about the UMS Transforms initiative, visit maine.edu/transforms.

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