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Benco Gives Back Through Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman Scholarship

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With every enrollment in its Benco Select rewards program, the dental distributor will donate to help end underrepresentation of Black, Native, Indigenous and LatinX communities in dental education.
Posted: March 16, 2022
Edited by Dentaltown staff

PITTSTON, Penn.—This year, Benco Dental is giving back with every enrollment in its Benco Select rewards program. With every enrollment or re-enrollment, the company will donate a portion of the fees to the Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman Endowment. The scholarship’s namesake, Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman, was the first African-American person in the U.S. to receive a degree in dentistry from an academic institution.

The Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman Endowment is the first dental school scholarship offered through the United Negro College Fund, in partnership with the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation. Its goal: To help end the underrepresentation of Black, Native, Indigenous and LatinX communities in dental education.

“The DTA Foundation is more than proud to collaborate with the Benco Family Foundation on this new scholarship with UNCF. By helping historically underrepresented minority students start their dental school journey, the new Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman scholarship has the potential to impact access to the dental profession for years to come,” said Sarah Miller, Dental Trade Alliance Foundation executive director.

Prior to Freeman earning his degree at Harvard Dental School in 1869, he apprenticed in dentistry but was denied entrance by two dental schools on the basis of race. After graduation, he opened a dental practice in Washington D.C. where he dedicated efforts to mentorship. 

Although diversity in dentistry has been increasing over the last 15 years, according to American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, “the racial mix of the dentist workforce does not reflect the United States population.” This new scholarship aims to continue increasing diversity in dentistry and allow for greater access to higher education.

“The Benco Family Foundation (BFF) recognizes the problems: lack of underrepresented minorities—primarily Black/African American, Native/Indigenous, and LatinX—and the tuition barrier. And, the BFF wants to be part of the solution by helping create the Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman Scholarship,” said Rebecca Binder, executive director of the Benco Family Foundation.

Through 2022, Benco will donate a portion of Benco Select enrollment and re-enrollment fees to the Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman Endowment.


 
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