Special to the North San Antonio Times

San Antonio College, one of the Alamo Community Colleges, in partnership with LULAC Council No. 2 and the Alamo Community College District (ACCD) Foundation, was one of only four colleges in Texas this year to win the coveted Star Award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the LULAC Parent/child Scholarship Program.

The Star Award recognizes higher education institutions, organizations or individuals “for their exceptional contributions toward one or more of the goals of ‘Closing the Gaps by 2015,’ the Coordinating Board plan to close the gaps in student participation, student success, academic excellence and research.” 

The LULAC Parent/Child Scholarship program offers a scholarship to a parent and a future two-year scholarship to the child, once the parent successfully completes a program of study at one of the Alamo Community Colleges.  In 1997, LULAC Rey Feo Scholarship Committee, Inc. initially donated $25,000, matched by the ACCD Foundation, to launch the program, which has been administered by San Antonio College’s Services for Women and Non-Traditional Students under the direction of Dr. Helen Vera.

“We are very excited to receive the Star Award for this program,” said President Robert E. Zeigler, who added, “I am very proud of the work of Dr. Vera with this program and our partnerships with the ACCD Foundation Board, represented by Roland DuBay, and with LULAC Council No. 2 under the leadership of President Tom Sandoval.”

“The Alamo Community Colleges are proud to have been a part of this unique scholarship program for the past eleven years,” said Dr. Bruce Leslie, chancellor of the Alamo Community Colleges.  “It not only benefits our students in the present, but also provides benefits into the future by making a college education possible for their children.”

 “LULAC Council No. 2 is very grateful to our many donors of La Reina and El Rey Feo who contributed to this wonderful program,” said Tom Sandoval, who added, “We hope to continue this educational concept for many future years.  We appreciate the excellent partnership that has been maintained with ACCD, its foundation, SAC President Robert E. Zeigler, Dr. Helen Vera, and the college staff at the Women’s Center who share this recognition and credit for this award.” 

To date, 300 students have been accepted into the LULAC Rey Feo Parent-Child Scholarship program, with the first recipient child expected to graduate from high school in 2010.  At the most recent awards ceremony in September, SAC business major Erica Torres, with her son Christopher, said, “Having my 2-year-old look up to me makes me want to be the best and most successful person that I can be.”

For more information about the LULAC Parent-Child Program, call 733-2299.