New Scholarship Funded in Memory of Portsmouth Teen
A boy who lost his father tragically to crime will have the opportunity to receive a college education, thanks to Regent University and members of the Hampton Roads community.
Regent founder, chancellor and CEO, Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson, announced a new scholarship in memory of Omar Booker who was fatally shot in January 2015 while working at a sandwich shop. Robertson made the announcement Saturday, December 5, at an awards dinner in Portsmouth, Virginia, where he also surprised Booker’s mother, Maxine Vinson, and her family by announcing that Booker’s young son, Quinton, will receive a full-tuition scholarship to Regent, should he decide to attend and is admitted.
“We’re very surprised. That’s one thing I’m not going to have to worry about. Quinton will be able to make something out of his life, to go to school, to be somebody,” said Vinson.
The Omar Booker Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually to a student from Hampton Roads that has lost a parent to a homicide. Members of the community who were deeply touched by the Vinson/Booker family’s loss endowed the scholarship fund. The fund is worth approximately $25,000, and more fundraising is planned. The first scholarship will be awarded in spring 2017.
“We at Regent were so saddened by the Booker family’s loss,” said Robertson. “Omar was trying to better his place in life, when he was tragically and senselessly taken from us. Hopefully this scholarship, in his name, will give hope to a student from Hampton Roads to achieve his or her dream. We join the community in letting the Booker family know that they are in our prayers and have our support.”
Robertson started his broadcasting career at WYAH-TV in Portsmouth in 1961. He made the scholarship announcements at the 2015 Inductee Awards Dinner program for the I.C. Norcom Athletics High School Hall of Fame, held at The Edmonds Center at St. Marks Missionary Baptist in Portsmouth – the same church where Omar Booker’s funeral was held earlier this year.