Wesleyan College announces partnership with Central Georgia Coalition of Black Businesses

"Education is the greatest mobilizer, the greatest equalizer for social mobility and so we thought, how do we provide additional opportunities for people, especially business owners in the community," said Meaghan Blight, President of Wesleyan College.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The future is changing at Wesleyan College as the college teams up with the Central Georgia Coalition of Black Businesses for a new partnership aimed at promoting leadership, education and economic development for women and minority communities in Middle Georgia.

President of Wesleyan College, Meaghan Blight, says any member of the coalition will be able to come to Wesleyan and could be eligible to receive a scholarship worth more than $5,000 for graduate programs, plus a more than 20% discount for online programs.

Blight says it all started after she went on Alex Habersham’s show. She says this is an opportunity for any member of the coalition to continue their education, pursue a new degree, or whatever makes sense for them in their career trajectory.

“You don’t say no to Alex Habersham,” said Blight. “So he had me on his show, and we were talking about how we can do more together, Wesleyan College and the black business community, and so of course, we were going to advertise in the [Macon-Middle Georgia] Black Pages, and then we thought about what else can we do to actually reach out and help the community, and education is the greatest mobilizer, the greatest equalizer for social mobility. And so we thought, ‘How do we provide additional opportunities for people?’ Especially business owners in the community, to be able to increase their educational opportunities.”

“So this is why these part-time online programs really work around your schedule as a business owner or a family, and so we’re able to support them on this journey. That can be really overwhelming at times, but doing it at a place like Wesleyan College that supports your individual gifts and nurtures you in a way, makes it really accessible,” Blight said.

Blight adds this partnership comes with career planning, academic advising and support, financial aid conversations and scholarship conversations. She says it will be available for both men and women.

The collaboration will be formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding and will be signed Monday night at Wesleyan College.