The Palm Desert Campus of Cal State San Bernardino has launched a new scholarship program to provide exceptional support to outstanding local high school graduates. Kicking off the fundraising campaign will be a very special dinner event honoring campus visionaries Dick and Jan Oliphant and Betty Barker on Thursday, April 7.
The University Legacy Scholars program was designed by the campus’s Advancement Board, a group of more than 40 community leaders who are advocates and ambassadors for the growing campus. According to Board President Ward Fredericks, the scholarship effort is critically important for the campus and community.
“The University Legacy Scholarship is a step to keep our promising talent here, said Fredericks. “We need to give outstanding local high school students a great option and the campus now offers many degrees that can keep our ‘best and brightest’ right here for college, without the huge student loan debts that so many of our exported students have found. This is an investment in our local students, and an investment in our quality of life in the Coachella Valley.”
The University Legacy Scholarships will provide full-ride scholarships to the campus for four years of undergraduate study for 10-15 outstanding Coachella Valley students, with recruitment beginning fall 2016. Criteria for selection of the honorees will include academic and scholarship performance, leadership potential, and financial need.
To provide funding for the program, a scholarship campaign is being launched with the “Keeping Our Brightest Stars” gala on April 7 at the historic Howard Hughes estate in Palm Springs; the home of Geoff Kors of the Palm Springs City Council, and James Williamson of the Palm Springs Unified School District Board, both of whom also serve on the campus’s Advancement Board. The fundraising goal for the evening is $300,000 to fully-launch the program in the coming year, said Sharon Brown-Welty, the campus’s dean.
“The brightest stars in our constellation truly have been Dick and Jan Oliphant and Betty Barker,” said Brown-Welty. “The legacy they have made by building our campus is unparalleled and we are humbled by their willingness to let us say thank you to them through this first-time fundraising event.”
Tickets to the gala are $250 per person, and tables of eight are available for $2,000. Through the support of the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, CSUSB Palm Desert Campus students will attend the event to share their stories of success as a result of their experience at PDC.
To support the scholarship fundraising campaign or acquire tickets to the gala, contact the campus’s Director of Development, Shawn Shepherd, at shawn.shepherd@csusb.edu, or call 760-341-2883, ext. 78116.
Located in beautiful Palm Desert, the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor and master’s degrees, a doctorate degree in educational leadership, and teacher credentials and certificates. With more than 1,200 students, it is the only four-year public university in the Coachella Valley and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.
For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the campus’s Office of Public Affairs at msinger@csusb.edu or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107 or visit the campus website at www.pdc.csusb.edu.