Two New Jersey Teens to be Awarded Scholarships at New Jersey Hall of Fame

Two recent New Jersey High School graduates will be recognized at this year’s New Jersey Hall of Fame ceremony as the recipients of the  Arête Scholarship Fund, the Hall of Fame announced today.

Charlotte Stant of Rumson and Lawrence Custis of Camden were each selected to receive the scholarship, which is a $5,000 award granted to two graduating high school seniors each year. The scholarship is named after the ancient Greek concept of “Arête” of actualizing one’s highest sense of self with a moral excellence of character regardless of the circumstances or the adversities one is likely to face on the path to greatness. The recipients of the Arête scholarship must demonstrate qualities such as academic engagement, moral character, a commitment to their community, a sense of Jersey pride and a plan on how they intend to realize their highest sense of self: their Arête.

The Arête scholarship award is a vital component of the NJHOF mission, and on behalf of our board of trustees and many supporters throughout New Jersey, we applaud Charlotte Stant and Lawrence Custis for epitomizing the ideals of the Arête concept,” said Steve Edwards, president of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School graduate Stant is currently attending Boston University and plans to major in International Business and minor in Spanish. She is being recognized for her efforts during the pandemic creating her own non-profit to address food insecurity in the Spanish-speaking immigrant community. Companeros has served more than 145,000 meals in the past 10 months alone.  

Custis graduated as the valedictorian from Creative Arts Morgan Village High School in Camden, New Jersey. He is attending Howard University with plans to major in Mechanical Engineering.

In his application, Custis wrote  “I don’t know life without hardships.” He was selected for “his tremendous hard work and perseverance despite immense personal challenges to graduate at the top of his class and serve as a role model to the youth in his community,” according to a release.

We are so proud of Charlotte and Lawrence. On behalf of every educator who worked with them along the way and all our 200,000 NJEA members, I wish them nothing but the best as they pursue their higher education and their dreams,” said NJEA President Sean M. Spiller. “I know they will continue to make all of us proud and to show the world the best of New Jersey wherever their journeys take them.”

Also at the ceremony, punk rock icons Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye will be part of the 2021 class of inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Other inductees–23 in total– include dynamic businesswoman Louise Scott, famed photographer Dorothea Lange, musicians Lesley Gore, George Benson, Sarah Dash and Mary Chapin Carpenter, Baseball Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, comedian Buddy Hackett and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The 13^th annual induction ceremony will once again be a virtual event as it was last year, in an abundance of caution amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

It will be broadcast on My9NJ on Saturday, October 16, Sunday, October 17, Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24,  as well as on NJ PBS, radio and prominent social media platforms. The Class of 2021’s Unsung Hero will be announced in early October.