Meet the students who will receive more than $90,000 in scholarships this year from the SJSU Alumni Association.
“I’m grateful to the alumni who support the scholarship program as members and donors. The awards have a transformational impact on the lives of San Jose State students,” said Brian Bates, Alumni Association executive director.
Recipients will be recognized at a reception 4 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. The Alumni Association has provided scholarships to SJSU students since 1974.
Learn more about the scholarship program.
Brenda Vasquez received the Starek Family Scholarship (Alumni Association photo).
Living Legacies
Included this year are the inaugural recipients of the Gerald M. Starek Family Alumni Association Scholarship and the Alan and Phyllis Simpkins Alumni Leadership Award. All told, 42 students will benefit from the support of these awards.
Brenda Vasquez, a transfer student from Cabrillo College, plans to focus her studies in corporate financial management. She received the Starek Family Scholarship, which is designated for students studying accounting and finance. The $7,500 award is renewable for up to four years.
Jolene Hom, a freshman from Millbrae, is the recipient of the Simpkins Leadership Award. The award was created by the Alumni Association Board of Directors to honor the extraordinary legacy of Alan and Phyllis Simpkins. The $5,000 one-time award goes to an incoming freshman that exhibits tremendous leadership qualities.
Jolene Hom received the Simpkins Leadership Award (Alumni Association photo).
Across the campus, the Alumni Association provides the dean in each college the opportunity to select two recipients for a $3,000 one-time award.
Special Programs
The association’s Santa Cruz Area Chapter provides $20,000 in support to students who come to SJSU from Santa Cruz County high schools or transfer from Cabrillo College. The association has partnered with the San Jose Woman’s Club to recognize their three recipients, as well.
The association also sponsors a student’s participation in the university’s Salzburg Program, which includes an intensive week of study at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Germany and projects on campus that help San Jose State’s diverse constituencies–faculty, staff, administrators and students–become better global citizens.