Cultivating Community

The youngest of eight siblings, Tabitha Gardner ’23 ’24 grew up as part of a tight-knit community in her hometown of Washington, North Carolina. When she left home to attend NC State, she sought a similar sense of belonging – and found it through her engagement with student organizations on campus. She credits several scholarships with making that possible.

“If I didn’t get those smaller scholarships that paid for my living expenses, or the larger ones that paid for my tuition and housing, I definitely would have had to work and cut back my involvement on campus,” Gardner said. “I’m extremely grateful for those because they eased the load and also allowed me to do things like mission trips with my church.”

Gardner was heavily involved with the NC State chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, serving as treasurer, and the Christian student group Acts2Fellowship, serving as president.

 “Acts2Fellowship is by far the strongest community I have on campus,” she said. “A lot of the core principles of Acts2Fellowship is living out [the idea of fellowship found] in the Bible, where you’re sharing meals together, you’re day in and day out together, getting into God’s word together,” said Gardner. “I have received a lot of help from mentors and have also grown close to a lot of the younger students just by doing everyday life and campus things together. My first group of friends [on campus] would study and do Bible studies together, and then later on, I would host students at my house if they wanted a meal … small things like that, building community.” 

In high school, Gardner worked at Cook Out and took some college-level courses, graduating first in her class. She followed in her sister Aquilla’s footsteps to NC State. No stranger to hard work, she maintained her head start by taking graduate-level courses during her undergraduate years. She interned at iDX Corporation, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, and envisions a career concentrating in health care systems.

To help with her graduate studies, Gardner received the A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship, one of three scholarships made possible through the Black Alumni Society. 

She is currently taking a gap semester before accepting a position – although she hasn’t scheduled much time for relaxation. She will travel to Panama City with her church to deliver and install water filters for the organization Filter of Hope. This is her second trip with the nonprofit.Last year, she helped bring clean water to rural residents of the Dominican Republic. She will continue to serve as a mentor with Acts2Fellowship through the end of this semester. 

Those scholarships had a huge impact on my time in college.

As an alumna, Gardner plans to support students in every way she can.

“Those scholarships had a huge impact on my time in college,” she said. “I want to be able to give back, because I know there are other students like me who will definitely need that help.”

Black Alumni Society Scholarships

In 1979, to foster a community of engaged Wolfpack alumni and encourage support for their alma mater, alumni couple Diane and Elwood Becton led the founding of what is now known as the Black Alumni Society; Elwood served as its first president. Since establishing its first scholarship in 1985, the organization has awarded two or three $1,000 scholarships each year to African American undergraduate students.   

The Black Alumni Society community is honored to support and contribute to the academic advancement of students at NC State.

“The mission of the Black Alumni Society is to support students who possess the excellence, leadership and service principles that Dr. Lawrence M. Clark, Dr. A.M. Witherspoon and Dr. Thomas E.H. Conway, Jr., demonstrated in their many years at NC State,” said Black Alumni Society President Gina Avent ’00. “These scholarships were founded as a way for the Black Alumni Society to support students who dedicate themselves to academic excellence and cultural awareness at NC State, while paying homage to the great leaders that were dedicated to improving the student experience at the university. The Black Alumni Society community is honored to support and contribute to the academic advancement of students at NC State.”

The Black Alumni Society currently awards three scholarships, each named after campus leaders: the Lawrence M. Clark Memorial Scholarship, the Dr. Thomas E.H. Conway, Jr. Scholarship and the A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship, of which Gardner was a recipient.

Get Involved

Join us in impacting student potential. Your support helps tangibly transform students’ lives. 

• Give to the Lawrence M. Clark Memorial Scholarship.
• Give to the Dr. Thomas E.H. Conway, Jr. Scholarship.
• Give to the A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship.

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