Organization of Black Maritime Graduates to Host Fund-Raising Gala
The Organization of Black Maritime Graduates (OBMG) was founded in 1994, and has granted over 80 maritime scholarships since its inception. The nonprofit organization was formed by Captain Robert Cook and five other SUNY Maritime College graduates to help minority students at Maritime College fund their higher education.
The scholarships are awarded each year at a dinner held in February, in honor of Black History Month. Awardees are selected based on their academic merit and financial need. OBMG also provides these students with guidance and mentoring, both during college and after graduation.



It’s not often that you come across scholarships that one would consider easy to get. There are usually endless applications to fill out, test scores to submit and transcripts to send when trying to be considered for a scholarship. Then there are essays to write and mail in and many times in-person interviews to be conducted. All of this for a chance at free money to get an education. With many of the scholarships available there are also strict rules on what the money must be used for and guidelines for keeping the scholarship with a certain GPA or performance level. All that red tape can make scholarship hunting seem to be more trouble than it’s worth. Throw in the everyday responsibilities that come along with being a dad, and you’ve got quite the task on your hands.


There is no argument that students work exceptionally hard on a day-to-day basis, from their scholastic workload, to extracurricular sports and clubs, to part time jobs and somehow, they even manage to find time to actively 
