TRIO honors students

Portland State recognized National TRIO Day with an awards ceremony honoring several students in the program for their educational achievements.

At the ceremony on Thursday, March 4, students were recognized four of the TRIO programs: Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search, Student Support Services/Educational Opportunity Program and McNair Scholars.

About TRIO
Trio provides federal assistance and support for determined college students who, without the help of TRIO, would have a difficult time attaining the funding and resources needed to obtain college educations. The SSS/EOP is available to first generation, low-income or disabled students. There are also many scholarships and grants available to students with astounding educational achievements. Nearly 1 million underprivileged students benefit from TRIO’s 2,880 projects nationwide.

In 1986, Congress passed a bill called the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act, which reduced funding for programs like TRIO. The program’s leaders proposed on Feb. 28, 1986, that National TRIO Day be established to increase awareness and rally support for the program, according to www.ed.gov.

“The main goal is to let people know that these programs are extremely important to success of first generation, low income students,” said Linda Liu, program director for the SSS/EOP, who has worked with TRIO programs at PSU for two years.

The TRIO program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the same law that governs student financial aid.

“Congress realized that just giving financial assistance to people who were unable to enroll in college just wasn’t enough,” said Paulette Watanabe, executive director of Diversity and Multicultural Student Services.

Financial aid is there for the funding aspect, and the TRIO program is there to aid students from various cultural backgrounds in overcoming the hardships associated with college.

“TRIO is a wonderful opportunity for students to truly engage themselves in the educational process,” said Renee Kim, who has worked for nearly two years as the Coordinator of Counseling Services for the program. “Being a first generation student myself, I understand the family, financial, and social responsibilities that our students face, that is why I am such a strong believer in the Student Support Services program.”

Various leaders of the program gave out the award plaques to the students.

“I think that the students deserve every bit of recognition they receive, because they have worked hard to succeed in college,” said Kim, who handed out awards at the ceremony. “It was difficult to choose only a few people to receive the awards when there are so many people who have succeeded with the help of TRIO programs.”

TRIO programs hope to receive funding to accommodate for the increase in Oregon’s population, and to continue to support students and further their educations.

Award recipients
The first to receive an award was Clare J. Washington, a McNair Scholar. Washington is currently an adjunct instructor in the Black Studies Department. She holds a bachelor’s degree with honors and a focus on Black Studies and writing.

Christopher M. Torres, also a McNair Scholar, hopes to attend Ohio State University and be a part of the Health and Exercise Behavior doctoral program. His long-term goals are to work as a departmental faculty member and as a coach and mentor to student athletes.

Student support services recognized Yazmin Estevez Galicia and Gabriela Escutia. Galicia has plans to graduate from PSU this spring and hopes to help minorities overcome challenges and achieve success in the areas of education, health care and immigration.

Escutia started at PSU in 2008. She brought her family here from Morelia, Mexico in 1998 for educational opportunities and so she could attend college. Escutia has received four scholarships and will graduate this fall with a bachelor’s degree in Community Health.

The Upward Bound program recognized Tim Shahat and Jennifer Benjamin. Shahat, with the help of Upward Bound, improved his GPA at Marshall High School by 1.11 points. Tim is planning to take a math class at PSU this fall.

Benjamin is a senior at Benson High School. She has maintained a 3.0 GPA or greater during her entire high school career. She has applied for numerous scholarships and will attend Concordia University in Northeast Portland in Fall 2010.

Jose Perez and Jose Echevaria were awarded for being outstanding members of the Project PLUS program. Perez plans to attend Linfield College in fall 2010 and study business administration. Echevaria, of Glencoe High School, was recently accepted to Georgetown University, his first choice. He has been a participant of Talent Search, and MEChA, which is a Chicano-Latino club promoting higher education.