Villanova university names scholarship for 1963 Birmingham church bombing victim Denise McNair

Jet, Feb 18, 2002

Denise McNair, one of the four little girls killed in the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, AL, recently had a scholarship established in her memory at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

School officials announced the four-year scholarship during a program marking the birthday of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Sept. 15, 1963, the blast killed 11-year-old Denise and three 14-year-olds, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley.

Dorothy Malloy, the university's vice president and general counsel, came up with the scholarship idea and said the purpose was to honor both Denise and her parents, Maxine and former Alabama state legislator and ex-County commissioner Christopher McNair.

"I think what stood out the most was his strength and religious beliefs and his love for his child and his interest in justice and in peace," Malloy said of Mr. McNair.

McNair said that he was excited about the scholarship. "It's a wonderful thing to have a scholarship named for Denise. My wife and I are really grateful to the university for doing something like this."

The Denise McNair Memorial Scholarship will be given to an incoming first-year student who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement and a commitment to family, religious faith, peace and justice.

It will cover full tuition for eight consecutive semesters and will be made every four years to a new recipient at the conclusion of the incumbent's education at Villanova.