Pictured: Maurice Rodgers, BHA Scholar
It is no secret that BHA is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of conservation leaders, including through our Collegiate Program. But thanks to a passionate board leader in Kentucky, we are taking that dedication one step further.
Retired Col. Mike Abell serves on the Kentucky BHA board and is the brains and brawn behind BHA’s new scholarship at the University of Louisville. The scholarship is intended to be awarded to a political science student who has little to no experience in the outdoors and our hunting and angling culture.
Maurice Rodgers has earned the title of the first ever “BHA Scholar.” Rodgers has a dual major in political science and Pan-African studies. He transferred to the University of Louisville from Chicago, where he is a part of the Metro College program, a partnership between United Parcel Service and the university. The program allows Rodgers to work third shift in exchange for tuition assistance. He expects to graduate this year and aspires to become an educator. Having faced great adversity with determination and hard work, he hopes to inspire students who have faced similar challenges to use their educations to fuel action leading to change.
Pictured: Retired Col. Mike Abell and his wife, Aline.
As conservation advocates, we often find ourselves speaking to leaders who have no foundation in the outdoors or sportsmen’s values. It can be difficult and time-consuming to convey the importance of public lands, habitat, the environment and wildlife to someone who has no connection to these things. That connection is an incredibly important component of motivation to act. Maurice has great potential and there is no doubt that he will excel in a position of leadership one day. We hope to give him an experience that he will never forget and gain an ally and new voice in the fight for our public lands, waters and wildlife.