Bowling Green, Ky. - A gift from a Western Kentucky University alumnae will help African American students, especially from Hopkinsville, with college expenses.
           
Michelle J. James of New York, a 1998 WKU graduate, has given $10,000 to create the Michelle J. James Southern Hope Scholarship. James, a Hopkinsville native, is the sales development director for Essence Magazine.
           
“I think it’s important that once you achieve a certain level of success that you definitely pay it forward and try to provide an opportunity for people coming after you,” James said. “Growing up in the small community of Hopkinsville, I feel I’ve been blessed and it’s important for me to provide opportunities for other people, especially from a population that I care deeply about.”
           
James will speak Saturday at the Society of African American Alumni “Spring to Success” event, a professional development day for African American students at WKU. “Spring to Success” will be at the Downing University Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.