Lauren Cooley Awarded the $10,000 Bettye Smith Brown Memorial Scholarship

VICKSBURG, Miss.(VDN) — River City Early College graduate Lauren Cooley has been awarded the 2025 Bettye Smith Brown Memorial Scholarship, receiving a $10,000 award to support her college education. Cooley was recently honored with a ceremonial check recognizing her academic achievement and future aspirations. She was 1 of 2 recipients of the scholarship.

Cooley graduated with honors, finishing seventh in her class, and earned her associate’s degree while still in high school. She is also a proud member of Phi Theta Kappa and was the recipient of the prestigious Frank Crump, Jr. Next Generation Scholarship.

She will attend the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall, where she plans to pursue a career in pediatric medicine.

The Bettye Smith Brown Memorial Scholarship was established in 2022 by sisters Adrienne A. Mosley and Fayedra Brown-Dear in memory of their mother, Bettye Smith Brown. A lifelong Vicksburg resident, Smith Brown was a passionate advocate for higher education and raised her daughters to view education as a powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty.

The scholarship is launched annually on January 28 to commemorate the birthday of Bettye Smith Brown’s mother. Each year, it invites high school seniors from the Vicksburg Warren School District with a GPA of 3.5 or higher to apply for the opportunity.

Cooley’s academic accomplishments and future goals align with the values of the scholarship, and she continues the legacy of academic excellence and service that the award aims to honor.