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The executive committee of The Goizueta
Foundation recently approved a grant of $850,000 for Reinhardt
College. The grant adds to The Goizueta Foundation Scholars
Fund, an endowment established at Reinhardt by a gift from The
Goizueta Foundation in 2004. The Fund provides need-based
scholarship assistance annually for Hispanic/Latino students who
attend Reinhardt and currently reside in the United States.
“The continued support from The Goizueta
Foundation permits the College to meet the educational needs of
our wonderful Hispanic students, and to reach further into the
community and to be of even greater service,” Reinhardt
President Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood said. “This is the second
award to Reinhardt from The Foundation, and is recognition of
the dedication and service offered by our faculty and staff to
all of our students.”
Viviana C. Baxter, Reinhardt associate
professor of Spanish language and education, was very
enthusiastic about the grant – just as she was when The
Foundation first supported the College three years ago. “All
aspects of college life thrive with diversity,” she said. “Our
community benefits from diverse cultures, traditions, points of
view, thoughts and beliefs of others. In this global society, we
can learn from each other.
“Reinhardt is very fortunate to have been
awarded this grant. It will enable Hispanic students to fulfill
their dreams and achieve their potential. These opportunities
are readily available for all students and sometimes taken for
granted by many.
“As part of the recruiting process, I am
fulfilled by meeting the Hispanic candidates who qualify for
this grant as the committee gets a sense of their purpose in
life, their hard work, their family values – and most inspiring
of all is their willingness to succeed against many odds,”
Baxter continued. “Once a candidate is selected and the student
lives as a member of our Reinhardt community, I am rewarded by
their academic and social achievements. Living in times when
politicians have a role to play and communities focus on
undocumented aliens, it makes me proud to be a Hispanic
professor at Reinhardt, whose mission ‘seeks to educate the
whole person by developing the intellectual, social, personal,
vocational, spiritual/moral and physical dimensions of its
students.’”
The College has had four grant recipients
thus far. Cristina Hernandez was the first Reinhardt student
awarded with the scholarship, and she earned her Bachelor of
Science degree in business administration/management with cum
laude honors in December 2005. Current Goizueta Foundation
Scholars include Nallely Zuniga, Carlos Mejia and Francisco
Ortega.
“It was the only door that was actually
open for me,” said Zuniga, a junior Mexico City native who has
lived in Ellijay, Ga., since age 13. “I thought I was not going
to be able to go to college, and it wasn’t because of my grades
or anything like that, but because I didn’t have a lot of
possibilities due to my immigration status. But the Goizueta
scholarship pretty much saved my life and made my dreams come
true, and I am very thankful.
“I really love school. I want to be a
teacher. I’m enjoying Reinhardt and taking advantage of it. I’m
making good grades, and that’s part of the way that I want to
show that I’m thankful for The Goizueta Foundation scholarship.
I’m not wasting my time here.”
Zuniga certainly has made herself known on
Reinhardt’s Waleska, Ga., campus. She has been involved in
several organizations while commuting from Ellijay, where she
also holds a part-time job at a Mexican restaurant. In 2007-08,
Zuniga will serve the College as the student government
association vice president of administration.
Mejia is a sophomore originally from
Guatemala who now resides in Kennesaw, Ga., while Ortega is a
freshman from Peru who currently calls Canton, Ga., his home.
Both Mejia and Ortega are members of the Reinhardt men’s soccer
team.
“I thank Reinhardt for the opportunity to
receive this grant; I’m sure there are a lot of people out there
who wish to be in college, or have the opportunity to attend
college and get a further education than high school,” said
Mejia, who has lived in the United States the past nine years.
“I’m thankful to Reinhardt College, my family and all of the
people who helped me achieve this goal.”
Ortega, a newcomer to the Reinhardt campus,
was extremely excited to have been awarded The Goizueta
Foundation scholarship. “My family and my buddies told me about
this scholarship that Reinhardt was providing to Hispanic
people, and so I went for it,” said Ortega, who has resided in
Cherokee County for four years. “I wrote my essay and it was
good enough, and then it was time for the interview – that was
the tough part – but I got through with that and I’m very
happy.”
Founded in 1992 by Roberto C. Goizueta,
chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer
of The Coca-Cola Company from 1981 until his death in 1997, The
Goizueta Foundation assists organizations that empower
individuals and families through educational opportunities to
improve the quality of their lives. It aims to support
educational programs that promote sustainable change and have a
long-term impact in the community. |
