Member Receives Union Plus National Labor College

BAC Local 4 Indiana/Kentucky member Vern Stanley was awarded a Union Plus National Labor College scholarship. “Higher education had simply been a dream,” says Stanley who is working on his Bachelor of Arts degree in labor studies. “Union Plus helped change all of that. The scholarship made the difference between being able to take classes and not,” he added.

Now close to achieving his educational goals, Stanley hopes to inspire other workers to follow in his footsteps. “I’m rank and file and not in a leadership position like many of the other students,” he says. “Workers must be better prepared” to learn from past and present generations in order to “maintain standards and advocate for ourselves. There’s going to be a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and shame on us if we’re not prepared to take up the responsibility.”

Thirty-one students attending the George Meany Center’s National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland were the recipients of $25,000 in scholarships from the Union Plus National Labor College Scholarship program. The program is provided through the Union Plus Education Foundation and is administered by the George Meany Center for Labor Studies.

The National Labor College’s degree programs are designed for working students, and allow many students to obtain college credits for relevant life, work, and apprenticeship experiences. The College, first proposed by AFL-CIO President Samuel Gompers, opened its doors in 1997 as the only American institution of higher education specializing in labor studies.

For more information about the Union Plus National Labor College Scholarship program, visit www.unionplus.org/scholarships. For details about the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, visit www.georgemeany.org.