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SPOKANE, Wash. — Eight urban student-leaders from our state will receive full-tuition, full-need scholarships to attend Gonzaga University this coming fall (2009) through Gonzaga’s first participation in the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative.
Also for the first time, a total of eight students from the Spokane area will benefit from the program with full-tuition, full-need scholarships this year. Of the eight student-scholars coming to Gonzaga, four hail from the Inland Northwest while the other four are from Western Washington. A total of 43 students from Washington state will receive new full-tuition, full-need scholarships to one of five colleges in Washington state this year; 35 from Western Washington and eight from the Spokane area.
Gonzaga University joined the program this year. Whitworth University, the first college to join the program in 2002, will welcome its seventh group of student-scholars this year through the program. Other participating Washington colleges include Pacific Lutheran University, Northwest University and Trinity Lutheran College. Collectively, the scholarships will provide nearly $5.5 million in financial aid over four years.
The newest Act Six scholars will be recognized in community celebrations in Spokane on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at Lewis and Clark High School, and in Seattle on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at Cleveland High School. The media and public are invited with RSVP.
Julie McCulloh, dean of admission at Gonzaga, said she was delighted that Gonzaga could become involved in such a rich and innovative program that will be reflective of Gonzaga’s mission to educate people to serve others.
“The Act Six program resonates with Gonzaga’s Jesuit social-justice mission, developing men and women for and with others,” McCulloh said. “The eight young women and men receiving the Act Six scholarship awards exemplify this mission. We are thrilled to have them join our community.”
Raymond Reyes, Gonzaga’s associate mission vice president for intercultural relations, says Act Six is an ideal fit for Gonzaga.
“Through its collaborative association with the Act Six Program, Gonzaga University animates the currency of its Jesuit roots and creates a highly effective way to manifest its institutional mission,” says Reyes.
Launched by the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF) in Tacoma, Act Six seeks to develop urban leaders to be agents of transformation on campus and in their home communities. Since the program’s inception, six cadres of ethnically diverse and mostly first-generation, low-income Act Six scholars from urban Tacoma and Seattle have enrolled at Whitworth. Today’s announcement is the culmination of this year’s Act Six expansion that added three new partner colleges, a Spokane office, and a new track to a four-year degree.
Whitworth President Bill Robinson said the program has brought to Whitworth an "extraordinary" group of students. “The program requires big investments, but it also delivers big rewards. So, it would be irresponsible and morally unacceptable if we didn’t explore ways to expand Act Six to other schools,” he said.
Act Six develops leaders through a simple, but powerful, four-step strategy:
• Recruit and select diverse, multicultural cadres of Washington’s most promising emerging urban leaders.
• Train and prepare these groups of students in the year prior to college, equipping them to support each other, succeed academically, and grow as service-minded leaders and agents of transformation.
• Send and fund the teams together to select faith-based colleges in Washington on four year, full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
• Support and inspire by providing strong campus support and ongoing leadership development to nurture these young people as they find their vocation and grow into the next generation of community leaders.
To date, 91 percent of the scholars in the first two cadres have graduated. Overall, 90 percent of the 67 scholars originally selected for the program have graduated or are still enrolled – reflecting graduation and retention rates that far exceed national averages. Act Six scholars have been elected student-body presidents two of the past three years at Whitworth and have been involved in numerous other leadership roles on and off campus.
“Our scholars are having a profound impact through their leadership on campus, and as they begin to graduate we look forward to their impact in the community,” says Tim Herron, founder and national director of Act Six. “This is what we envisioned when we launched Act Six and what we are now seeing replicated around the state and nation.”
Nationally, Act Six affiliates also have been established at Crichton College, in Memphis, Tenn., and George Fox University, in Newberg, Ore. Following is a list of this year’s Act Six recipients:
Gonzaga University (Cadre One)
Jasmine Linane-Booey, Shadle Park High School
Oscar Marmolejo, University High School
Edwin Torres, Gonzaga Preparatory School
Thuy-Anh Vo, Gonzaga Preparatory School
Kevin Bess, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Ylisse Bess, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Mercedes Hayes, Kent Meridian High School
Rachel Ku, Henry Foss High School
Whitworth University (Cadre Seven)
Joseph Lawyer, III, Life Christian Academy
Jessica Pearson, Lincoln High School
Marisol Rosado, Highline High School
Meklit Kalebessa, Lewis and Clark High School
Darrien Mack, Rogers High School (Spokane)
Taylor Powell, Shadle Park High School
Jaime Rebuelta, Riverside High School
Pacific Lutheran University (Cadre Two)
Yesenia Arellano, Clover Park High School
Gabriel Farias, Stadium High School
Darla Garcia, Henry Foss High School
Marvin Gold, Washington High School
Darrell McKinney, Jr., Clover Park High School
Justin Pascual, Mount Tahoma High School
Micah West, Mount Tahoma High School
Northwest University (Cadre One)
Augustine Ajuogu, Chief Sealth High School
Nancy Atondo, Mount Tahoma High School
Romece Barnes, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Grace Brigham, Clover Park High School
Markese Brown, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Jalisa Harris, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Janita Harris, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Larisa Kotilevskaya, Wilson High School
Nicholas Nair, Foster High School
Elizabeth Perkins, West Seattle High School
Donisha Robertson, Mariner High School
Trinity Lutheran College (Cadre One)
Passia Abraham, Henry Foss High School
Jerram Daise, Wilson High School
Kimberlie Hanes, Clover Park High School
Kristin Manning, Clover Park High School
Daesha Richard, Spanaway Lake High School
Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, Clover Park High School
Samuel Smith, Clover Park High School
Sarah Solorzano, Henry Foss High School
Jordan Trapps, Henry Foss High School
Nicolette Viken, Gates High School
Following next week’s celebrations, scholars begin an intensive seven-month training program that involves weekly meetings with Act Six staff, retreats and campus visits. Whitworth, Gonzaga, PLU and Northwest scholars are participating in the traditional Direct-Four Year Track and will enroll at those colleges in fall 2009.
Trinity Lutheran College scholars were selected as part of the new Act Six Urban Service Track. They will undertake two years of street-level urban service experience with local non-profits in Tacoma while earning an associate's degree at Tacoma Community College before transferring to Trinity Lutheran College in fall 2011 to earn their bachelor's degree. Learn more about Act Six online at www.actsix.org.
Those wishing to attend next week’s community celebrations should RSVP with Crystal Viken, Act Six assistant director, at (253) 272-0771 ext. 111.
The Northwest Leadership Foundation is a faith-based non-profit headquartered in Tacoma, Wash. Since 1989, the foundation has worked to move individuals and organizations from good intentions to effective outcomes in its effort to encourage, strengthen and develop leadership for the spiritual and social renewal of the city.
Contacts:
Raymond Reyes, associate mission vice president for intercultural relations at Gonzaga University, (509) 313-3667 or via e-mail.
Rodney McAuley, Act Six Spokane director, Northwest Leadership Foundation, (509) 953-8003 or via e-mail.
Tim Herron, Act Six national director, Northwest Leadership Foundation,
(253) 272-0771 ext.109 or via e-mail.
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