TUSKEGEE, Ala. (September 11, 2009) - In today's tough economic climate, many college students will be forced to drop out of college due to a lack of financial support. The Jeffery Brewton Memorial Engineering Scholarship was established in April to combat this and at the same time, carry on the dream to help engineering students at Tuskegee University. Fraternity brothers, family and friends of the late Jeffery Brewton, Sr., a Milton, Fla., native, are working together to help deserving students secure much-needed funding for higher education.

Brewton, a Tuskegee University alumnus, died in September 2008. He was an engineer for Chevron Oil Company and was on assignment in Lagos, Nigeria. During his 20 years of employment at Chevron, Brewton often supported his alma mater and recruited engineers from Tuskegee. Many interns he recruited would often return to Chevron as full-time employees.

"The hard working engineer that Tuskegee produced in Jeff is one reason Chevron does continue to return to Tuskegee and recruit.  My understanding is there were three or four interns from Tuskegee working for Chevron this summer," said Tom Whitehead, Nigeria Drilling Operations Manager at Chevron. "So, Jeff's accomplishments at Chevron are a main reason Chevron returns to his alma mater for more talent. This is a long lasting contribution of Jeff's in itself, and I can tell you that he was aware of it and was proud of it."

Before the program can actually award scholarships to students, it must reach a goal amount of $25,000 and currently 50 percent of the goal has been attained.

Contributions can be mailed to:  Tuskegee University, Office of University Advancement, Kresge Center-Room 317, Tuskegee, AL 36088. Attn: Jeffery Brewton Scholarship - Acct# 61-02000258-43100. Secure online donations can be made at www.jefferybrewtonscholarship.com.