Howard University officials have undoubtedly been under fire since the university confirmed six of its former employees were fired for "gross misconduct and neglect" related to misappropriation of financial aid money. Now, scholarship search service company, Scholly, is stepping up to support Howard University students in a crucial way. 

Scholly has instituted a scholarship fund specifically for Howard University students who have been directly affected by the scandal. News of the scandal became widespread after an anonymous Medium writer alleged university officials abused around $1 million in financial aid funds, in a post that has since been suspended. 

The Scholly fund is aimed at helping students who are now in need of financial aid to either continue on to their next semester – or for students who have had to drop out due to the lack of resources in financial aid funding. 

Christopher Gray, founder of Scholly, told Blavity that the goal of the fund is to prevent students from having to drop out and not complete their degree. 

"This kind of incident is now having students not want to enroll, and students are trying to transfer," Gray said. He later added, "Our goal is to keep students from having to drop out, make sure they can graduate, and enroll or go back if they did drop out."

Scholly is offering Howard students up to $10,000 in scholarship funds based on the individual's financial need. The company will work with Howard University to verify each student submission and confirm their financial aid-related information. Scholly has already received hundreds of submissions, Gray said. 

Scholly is providing funding for the scholarship fund, but has also received interest in contributions from major corporations, tech companies and financial institutions. 

Although Gray didn't attend Howard University himself, he explained to Blavity that he feels a personal connection to the institution since a lot of his friends attended. Disheartened by the scandal and the history of underfunding at HBCU's, Gray said that while he hopes universities like Howard will make a major change, he also hopes it doesn't deter black students from attending HBCUs altogether. 

"There’s still a lot of cultural and economic value for going to a HBCU," he said. "It's not only a safe haven, but now becoming a serious pipeline for major companies and a lot of firm reps.."

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