Few, if any, have worked harder to achieve a more diverse and inclusive campus community than professor emeritus Dr. Booker Ingram. As the College’s first African-American professor, Ingram was a tireless advocate for building an environment at Presbyterian College that included, welcomed, and nurtured minority students and professors.

At the end of a distinguished 33-year career in the political science department, Ingram retired, not only triumphant as a mentor and teacher but also having achieved a significant career milestone as the College’s first director of diversity and inclusion.

In honor of his retirement in Spring 2021, PC alumnus Douglas Welsh ’95 established the Booker T. Ingram Multicultural Leadership and Civic Engagement Scholarship for students who “demonstrate academic achievement and leadership in diverse organizations, environments, and leadership capacity for civic engagement within the PC community.”

The partial scholarship will be awarded to graduating high school students who have demonstrated leadership in multicultural activities in their schools or communities and are active in civic organizations. Preferences will be given to students with financial needs and/or to first-generation students.

Welsh, a former student of Ingram’s, said the scholarship pays tribute to a man who broke barriers and whose impact was felt by classmates in and out of the classroom.

“At the time I was in college,” said Welsh, “I did not appreciate how important his arrival to PC was. I do not think I understood what it meant to break barriers like the one Dr. Ingram broke.

“In my entire life, I have never had to apply for a job or other position at an institution or company that has never hired someone who looked like me. That is a burden I do not have to bear. Because of Dr. Ingram, others following in his footsteps will not have to bear that burden either. Dr. Ingram took a risk when he left New Orleans to move to South Carolina to share his great intellect, enthusiasm, and knowledge with all of us. And for that, I am extremely grateful.”