Bridge Builders Award
Ken Woodley of The Farmville Herald and the Commonwealth of Virginia for creating educational opportunity in the form of scholarships to individuals who were denied public education fifty years ago.
Almost 50 years ago, the public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia were shut down to avoid what a Farmville Herald editorial described in 1959 as a “Communist plan to disrupt American life and reduce the white race to impotency.” In an effort to right the wrongs of the past, actions by the current editor of The Farmville Herald and the leadership of the Commonwealth of Virginia have made it possible for over 3,000 persons, who had formerly been denied an education, to go back to school for the first time since the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954.
In 2003, the Commonwealth of Virginia passed a resolution to express profound regret for the school closings. Ken Woodley, the current editor of The Farmville Herald, who felt a degree of responsibility as a representative of the paper that had, before his time, spurred lawmakers to withdraw funding from the schools, supported this motion but decided that something concrete should be offered beyond a formal apology stating regret. Shortly after the resolution was passed, Woodley began securing sponsorship of legislation in the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate that would make state money available to those who had not been able to finish public school. Woodley led a 17-month crusade that included editorials, letters to legislators, and demonstrations by those affected by the closings for passage of the Brown v. Board of Education scholarship legislation.
In 2004, the proposed $1 million budget amendment to fund the scholarships was passed by the State House and Senate with support from the governor, numerous other officials, and a $1 million matching donation by media philanthropist John Kluge. The first Brown v. Board of Education Scholarships were awarded in June of 2005 with 3000 persons eligible to receive $5,500 each to enroll in a GED program, earn a high school diploma or a two-year or four-year undergraduate degree, or to complete a five-year undergraduate degree.
Ken Woodley and the Commonwealth of Virginia both stand as leaders in a fight that continues to this day. Both have found a way to positively use the power of their positions to try to make up for deeds committed in the past, and offer opportunity and education to those who had it stripped away from them so long ago.