Foundation to give full-ride scholarships
Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK) announced a $1.4 million grant received from the Hector and Gloria Lopez Foundation (HGLF), on April 5 as part of a celebration of higher education.
Fifteen first generation Latino students, selected at random, will be awarded with the grant, and followed by the foundation for five years.
Students receiving the grant will be given full rides to the university and access to housing, study abroad programs, paid internships, tutoring and mentors throughout their time in college.
“We’re going to follow them for five years with every support that we can possibly help them with, and we know that the university is the correct partner to help us,” Foundation CEO and nephew to Hector and Gloria Lopez, Sergio Rodríguez, said.
The HGLF also announced partnerships with four other universities – Texas A&M International, Texas State University, St. Edward’s University and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“We’re a brand-new private foundation, this is our second year, and this our first full year of grant making, but we anticipate that our partners are strong and intentional in the way they serve students,” Rodríguez said.
The partnerships come after Texas’ 30×60 plan, which calls for 60 percent of Texas’ working-age class to receive either degrees or postsecondary credentials before 2030. According to the foundation, in order to reach this goal at least 285,000 Latino students must complete a degree or certificate each year.
“My aunt and uncle growing up or living in Alice as they did for so many years, they really wanted to see Latinos go to college, what they saw in Alice was really the beginnings of something that applies here, that they wanted to change across the state, so we are 100 percent dedicated to higher education opportunity for Latinos here in Texas, and I don’t think there’s another foundation that really does that,” Rodríguez said.
The university is appreciative of this new partnership.
“This is going to be a model that we can all aspire to replicate, to magnify for all students,” TAMUK President Dr. Robert Vela said.
The program will start in the fall of 2023.
“We know how to get students through the finish line, but this is a whole new way of doing, because it’s no longer ‘let’s just get them through but let’s get you through as a scholar.’ That’s a whole different mindset. That’s the whole commitment and spirit around excellence that we’ve been trying to achieve,” Vela said.
The university can reapply for the grant again in the future.
