Romeo Doyle Muhammad Scholarship Recipients

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Five Buffalo High School students have been awarded the Romeo Doyle Muhammad Scholarship.

Dr. Eva Doyle has hosted the scholarship since 2009. She is a retired Buffalo Public School teacher of 30 years and uses the scholarship to honor local students and her late husband Romeo Doyle Muhammad, who was a Korean War veteran and education advocate.

“I’ve been doing this work for 15 years. And it hasn’t always been easy, because I don’t always get a lot of donations,” she said. “But I continue to do it because I think it’s important to keep my husband’s memory alive.”

• Naia Marrow – Performing Arts

• Melia Towns – Lockport High School

• Zigabor Banuna – Hutch Tech

• Marie Furaha – Burgard High School

• Dominique Grandy

Students say the scholarship helps them achieve their goals.

“My dream job and future career is to be a video game designer working at Nintendo or to be a news reporter in Buffalo,” Banuna added.

“It’s also my family’s dream, because I will be the first woman in my family to graduate from high school,” Furaha said.

Scholarships are awarded to students of color who have completed high school and will attend a two- or four-year college or university. Students who apply must demonstrate their academic achievement, submit references, and write an essay describing their future goals.

“That’s what it’s all about, just encouraging our young people, regardless of their background, to be successful and achieve,” Dr. Doyle said. “That’s really what it’s all about.”

The scholarship is awarded each July, the birth month of Romeo Doyle Muhammad.