JAMES P. "WINK" COTTON
​MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

James Perry Cotton was a complex man. Often funny. Sometimes furious. Far too generous. Always his own man, living life on his own terms, my father was the most self-authored man who I've ever known. We didn't always see eye to eye, primarily because we are simply too much alike; both bull-headed, impatient, and too assured of our own perspective on almost any given topic or in any given situation.
Although we chose different career paths, I acquired my work ethic and my obsession with excellence  from watching the level of detail that my father poured into everything that he did. ​

To date, I have successfully drafted nearly $9 million dollars in federal TRIO grants to increase secondary, post-secondary, and post-baccalaureate degree completion rates among low-income and first generation students and helped high school students secure an additional $9 million in merit-based aid. But I can't take credit for that. My mother taught me to read before I started school and my father ran a job placement and skills development center in Hampton nearly 50 years ago. In his honor, a scholarship will be awarded to a graduate student in the Masters of Science in Bio-Medical Science program at Hampton University.

James Perry "wink" cotton scholarship application

serving students is baked into my DNA. But my father's herculean work ethic and irrepressible determination to be the absolute best at whatever he put his hand to - as a painter, mechanic, and entrepreneur - has had an immeasurably positive impact on my entire career.

NONE OF THE FUNDS COLLECTED FOR THE OPTIMIZING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIPS WILL BE AWARDED TO MY SON, whose diligence in securing scholarships and tuition remission to fund all tuition, fees, room & board, pre-college expenses, and books enabled me to devote months of logistical planning to this initiative to benefit other students. All receivables and capital outlays will be detailed in our forthcoming annual report. ​