The Reba Bock Fellows Experience

The Reba Bock Fellows Scholarship is awarded to support an innovative proposal for a sustainable activity/project/program that makes a positive contribution to the community. The project must be developed and implemented in collaboration with a community partner in the Huntsville/Walker County area or at SHSU. An example of a past project was the formation of the Reba Bock Career Closet in the CHSS Building in 2019 where students were able to find professional pieces of clothing for their wardrobes. Due to its popularity, the Career Closet relocated to Tripod’s Thrift in 2021 thus allowing for expansion of services to the SHSU community.

Applicants must ask a faculty member to act as a mentor to guide them in their project. After the award is accepted, the first (fall) semester will primarily consist of the planning phase of the project and the second (spring) semester will focus on the implementation phase. To be eligible for this award, students are required to be enrolled as a student for both the fall and spring semesters. Toward the end of the final semester, award recipients will be asked to present their project to campus and community audiences and will be asked to create a short video about their project. The Center for Community Engagement staff are available to assist students, faculty mentors, and the community partner organization throughout the project.

The Reba Bock Fellows Scholarship was made possible by Reba Bock’s grandchildren. They established the endowment to honor the legacy of their grandmother, one of the first female elected officials in Walker County, by encouraging students to assume roles of community leadership in Huntsville and Walker County.