{"id":1780,"date":"2015-05-29T17:19:15","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=1780"},"modified":"2015-05-29T17:19:15","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:19:15","slug":"strength-and-support","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2015\/features\/strength-and-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Strength and support"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presidential Financial Aid Leaders initiative aims to attract top students<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strengthening scholarship support is a top priority for Joanne Berger-Sweeney. Soon after her Inauguration as Trinity College\u2019s 22nd president, Berger-Sweeney launched the Presidential Financial Aid Leaders initiative, designed to put a Trinity education within reach of a greater number of highly qualified students. Presidential Financial Aid Leaders are donors who make an individual commitment of $125,000 or more, qualifying for a one-to-one match from Trinity.<\/p>\n

The scholarship initiative aims to enroll more of our most qualified applicants, improve student recruitment and retention, and bolster Trinity\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must ensure that we have the financial resources to attract the very best students from a wide range of backgrounds, giving them the opportunity to attend this institution regardless of their ability to pay full tuition,\u201d says Berger-Sweeney.<\/p>\n

Enhanced scholarship offerings will change the equation for Trinity in many ways. Consider the numbers: Trinity accepts more than one-third of its first-year class based on their credentials and without considering financial need. Then, when the student aid budget is expended, the College must include financial need in selecting the remainder of the class. Unfortunately, that means turning away many top students who simply cannot afford a Trinity education.<\/p>\n

Featured are three students who are able to attend Trinity because of scholarship support. Scholarships helped to bring them to Trinity and have allowed them to thrive on campus.<\/p>\n

ETHAN CANTOR \u201916<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Ethan-Cantor_Copenhagen-2-16-15\"<\/a>The recipient of the R.C. Knox and Co. Scholarship and the Samuel C. Suisman Scholarship, Ethan Cantor \u201916 is grateful for his Trinity education. The public policy and law major was just a child when his father, who was running for a local position in the representative town government in Fairfield, Connecticut, took him door-to-door to campaign. Even then, his parents were committed to teaching him the workings of government. Cantor watched his father pour a cup of coffee each morning and sit down with The New York Times<\/i>, joined his parents as they watched the nightly news, and followed the contested presidential race of Bush vs. Gore in 2000 as best he could, considering his lack of experience. Youth didn\u2019t stop him. At 13, Cantor applied for an internship with the Fairfield first selectman\u2019s office. He got it.<\/p>\n

Cantor recalls that when he toured Trinity, sat in on a class, and interviewed with a senior admissions associate, he thought, \u201cI just know Trinity is going to be the best place for me.\u201d But he also feared not receiving enough financial aid to attend.<\/p>\n

That fear dissolved soon enough. \u201cMany students recall the day that they received their acceptance letter from Trinity as one of the happiest days of their lives,\u201d says Cantor, who spent the spring 2015 semester studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. \u201cFor me, that day was when I received the letter in the mail informing me that I could study at Trinity for tuition within my means.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the financial aid awards I have received, I would not be a Bantam today,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that thought has made me forever grateful for the generosity of Trinity\u2019s donors.\u201d
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

LUIS CRUZ \u201916<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Luis-Cruz-by-John-Atashian-2-16-15\"<\/a>

Photo by John Atashian<\/p><\/div>\n

Luis Cruz \u201916 grew up in Honduras, the son of an electrical engineer who bought Windows 95 as soon as it was available and installed video games on the family computer to amuse his son. Cruz became enamored of the games, and at an early age, he decided that his future would be in video game programming. In his early teens, Cruz began teaching himself programming languages and then mastered digital electronics, building his own video games. His father, noticing his prowess, sent him to Colorado to live with a cousin. There, Cruz spent his senior year of high school at Harrison High in Colorado Springs, creating a video game controlled by eye movement.<\/p>\n

Soon after, he befriended a paraplegic student. \u201cIt was then that I started working with the eye board,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to create an eye-tracking system where people with disabilities can have access to a computer without having to spend thousands of dollars on equipment.\u201d His invention, in which he built the eye-tracking system into one set of glasses, cost less than $300.<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s entrepreneurship brought him head-turning recognition, including his being named in a Huffington Post story as one of \u201c9 Tech Innovators Under 21 Who Are Changing the World.\u201d His work also has been featured on CNN.com and a number of other news sites and in print publications. He already is an entrepreneur, helped along in his Trinity education by the Andrew Forrester \u201961 Scholarship Fund and the William P. Scully \u201961 Scholarship Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scholarships have been such a helpful thing, the most helpful,\u201d says Cruz, a junior electrical engineering major. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to be at Trinity otherwise. My dream has always been to come to the United States to study, and the scholarships are what have made me able to accomplish my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

BRIANA CHANG \u201916<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Briana-Chang-by-John-Atashian-2-16-15\"<\/a>

Photo by John Atashian<\/p><\/div>\n

When looking at colleges, Briana Chang \u201916 immediately gravitated toward the Trinity campus, but she knew that she was going to need financial assistance if she wanted to attend the College. Chang grew up in eastern Brooklyn, New York, in a neighborhood where access to education, positive role models, and opportunities to succeed were scarce. The child of Jamaican immigrants, she proved to be a talented and determined student, and she won a scholarship from the organization A Better Chance to attend the Cambridge School of Weston, a Boston-area prep school.<\/p>\n

Chang found her Trinity aid in the form of the Class of \u201963 Scholarship. \u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenal scholarship,\u201d says Chang, a junior majoring in biology. \u201cEvery year we meet with the members of the Class of \u201963. They mentor us, and we learn about what they\u2019re doing in the world. We call them \u2018the uncles.\u2019 It\u2019s quite a family, and to actually know the people who are having a direct impact on my life takes it to a whole other level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scholarship allowed her to thrive in a place where she knew she belonged. \u201cThe atmosphere and the faculty-to-student ratio were important to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThe public schools in my neighborhood had too few teachers and resources compared to the large number of students, and it didn\u2019t allow for optimal performance. Being around so many intelligent professors and students helps me to grow as a student.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recognizes her financial challenges, particularly as she aspires to become a dentist. \u201cI am thankful for the scholarships that have made my education possible. As others have believed in me through financial support, I hope to someday be able to provide for other students who might not have the opportunity to receive an education from amazing institutions like Trinity College.\u201d<\/p>\n

Join us in the Presidential Financial Aid Leaders initiative. To learn more, please contact the Advancement Office at (860) 297-2369.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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