April 12, 1995 Contact: Francine Tyler (408/459-2495)

INVESTMENT MADE BY SANTA CRUZ WOMEN'S CLUB 40 YEARS AGO RESULTS IN $200,000 GIFT TO UC SANTA CRUZ SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--The purchase of a clubhouse some 40 years ago by members of a Santa Cruz women's organization will benefit tomorrow's female leaders through a gift that the club has made to a University of California, Santa Cruz, scholarship program.

At a luncheon held on campus March 30, the Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club presented UCSC Chancellor Karl S. Pister with a $200,000 check to endow an annual Leadership Opportunity Awards (LOA) scholarship in the club's name. The gift will enable UCSC to provide $10,000 each year to a student selected to receive a LOA scholarship. Club members specified that their gift support a female student.

"The Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club's generous gift is more than an investment in this scholarship program," Pister said. "It is an investment in the students the program supports--the people who will serve as tomorrow's leaders--and in the future of our state."

The work that produced the $200,000 scholarship actually began in the 1950s, when Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club members raised money to buy a clubhouse on Plymouth Street in Santa Cruz, said UCSC Extension Dean Janice Corriden, president of the club. The group is the local chapter of the international Business and Professional Women's (BPW) organization.

The current membership decided they no longer needed a private clubhouse, Corriden said, and believed that the proceeds from its sale could benefit one of the organization's favorite causes: education.

"BPW has long been interested in helping to create women leaders," Corriden said, "and we have always believed that education is the key to success for women in our society." For a number of years, the local chapter has given smaller scholarships to students attending UCSC, as well as to students at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz County.

The sale of the clubhouse, to the Scandinavian Cultural Center of Santa Cruz County, was finalized recently, enabling the women's club to increase its support of higher education.

UCSC's Leadership Opportunity Awards program, with its emphasis on creating future leaders, honoring achievement, and assisting students in financial need, is a "perfect match with the ideals of the club," Corriden said.

The LOA program was established in 1993 by Chancellor Pister to recognize talented students who have overcome adverse socioeconomic circumstances, have demonstrated a commitment to assisting and improving the lives of others, and who might not otherwise be able to attend UCSC for financial reasons. Several students are nominated annually by the presidents of each of thirteen community colleges in the region, and recipients are selected by Chancellor Pister in consultation with the Leadership Opportunity Awards Advisory Committee.

Those selected receive $10,000 scholarships for each of two years, enabling them to complete their undergraduate education at UCSC. In addition, they receive assistance finding paid summer work experience in a field that complements their academic studies and the support of a strong academic mentoring program.

Since its start, LOA has funded scholarships for 22 students. To date, UCSC has raised nearly $3.2 million of the $5 million endowment needed to fund the program permanently.

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

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