UWW IS Awards First Scholarship in Honor of Ruth B. Loving

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The University Without Walls Department of Interdisciplinary Studies (UWW IS) presented its first scholarship in honor of social justice and community activist Ruth B. Loving on the evening of Dec. 4 at the Henry M. Thomas III Center at Springfield.

Loving was known as the “mother of civil rights in Springfield,” and at the age of 73 earned her bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst through UWW with a concentration in community education.

The $1,000 scholarship was presented to Springfield resident Paris Brantley, a UWW IS student who is designing her own interdisciplinary concentration in social justice and education. Brantley, a mother of four who works as a teacher at The Care Center in Holyoke, and plans to start her own school in honor of her grandmother, who passed away last year.

Members of the Loving families, as well as UWW IS faculty, staff and supporters attended the award ceremony, and Brantley was accompanied by her mother and four daughters.

“Paris, you exemplify and embody the work and values Ruth B. Loving brought to her social justice and community engagement work in Springfield, and we celebrate and honor you tonight with this scholarship award,” said Julie Skogsbergh, UWW IS department chair and faculty member.

“There are so many best parts about being a UWW student,” Brantley said. “One being that I am surrounded by professors, peers and people who understand and have walked a similar journey. The flexibility and compassion, and best of all, the fact that the life experience I have already lived can count towards degree credit.”

Diane Petaway and Ron Stewart, Loving’s niece and great nephew, represented their aunt’s legacy and the Loving family at the ceremony.

“Ron, I and the family very much appreciate the University of Walls Department of Interdisciplinary Studies honoring my Aunt Ruth with a scholarship in her name. We so enjoyed the festivities, and it was lovely meeting the young lady who received it as well as the staff. This was truly an honor,” Petaway said.

The Ruth B. Loving Scholarship, established in 2018 and endowed in 2021, honors and carries forward the legacy of this accomplished and influential alumna by providing support for a UWW IS student who faces socioeconomic challenges, demonstrates financial need and is in good academic standing. Preference is given to a student living in Hampden County.

UWW IS is the top-ranked online bachelor’s degree program in New England, which has helped adults and nontraditional students finish their bachelor’s degrees since 1971. For more information, visit www.umass.edu/uww/interdisciplinary-studies.