{"id":2706,"date":"2022-11-16T07:49:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T13:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/?p=2706"},"modified":"2022-12-07T15:11:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T21:11:38","slug":"acc-lights-up-purple-to-honor-largest-scholarship-gift-in-college-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/blog\/2022\/11\/16\/acc-lights-up-purple-to-honor-largest-scholarship-gift-in-college-history\/","title":{"rendered":"ACC Lights Up Purple to Honor Largest Scholarship Gift in College History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>University Federal Credit Union gift gives hope to all students<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Paying for college is one of the biggest barriers students face. According to national data, 68 percent of students worry about having enough money to pay for school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Austin Community College District (ACC) is proud to celebrate the largest donation to scholarships in\u00a0ACC history \u2014 a <strong>$5 million gift from <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ufcu.org\"><strong>University Federal Credit Union (UFCU)<\/strong><\/a>. In a show of appreciation, ACC will celebrate the gift with a new tradition. On Riverbat Day, Wednesday, November 16, ACC Highland will LIGHT UP PURPLE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis donation is truly life-changing for our students and community,\u201d says ACC Chancellor, Dr. Richard Rhodes. \u201cWe believe college is for everyone, and we strive to eliminate the barriers that get in the way. Every dollar matters, and this incredible gift will do more than we ever thought possible. I am so grateful for our partners at UFCU who share in ACC\u2019s vision and mission. Together, we will provide more students access to the education they need to get a well-paying job and on a path toward upward mobility in Central Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have long partnered with ACC and are excited to take our alliance to the next level. This scholarship program will provide all-inclusive support to hardworking students so they can focus on achieving their career aspirations through ACC,\u201d says UFCU President, Michael Crowl. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to see the positive impact it will have on the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UFCU\u2019s gift will fund \u2014 in part \u2014 40 new scholarships through the college\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austincc.edu\/students\/career-scholars\">Career Scholars Program <\/a>which covers the full cost of tuition and fees \u2014 up to $5,000 \u2014 and provides wrap-around support to help students stay on track and graduate on time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For students like Christine Pham, it made going to college a reality.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI had my son during COVID which put a pause on my life. I was trying to figure out how to take care of a newborn. At that time, I didn\u2019t think that I was going to be able to attend college,\u201d says Christine, ACC Adult Career Scholar. \u201cThe Career Scholars offers the opportunity for those who are trying to juggle the work-life and college balance. Students at ACC are working, are parents, and there is a lot on our plate. Sometimes it doesn\u2019t seem attainable to balance everything. After going to ACC, I realized that everyone here is invested in you. We are all working toward something together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newly released data from Trellis show the need for financial support is mounting. A survey of students at two-year institutions across the nation show:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>68% of students surveyed worry about having money to pay for school;<\/li><li>50% have run out of money three or more times in a year;<\/li><li>48% show signs of housing insecurity;<\/li><li>72% are less than confident they can pay off student debt; and<\/li><li>66% would use financial support services if offered.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Through its gift, UFCU will provide $1 million per year over the next five years to ACC scholarships, including $900,000 each year that will go toward a new UFCU Endowed Scholarship at the college and $100,000 per year that will go toward ACC\u2019s Career Scholars Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About ACC\u2019s New \u201cLight Up Purple\u201d Tradition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To honor the UFCU gift and contribution toward making free college possible for more students, ACC will launch its new \u201cLight Up Purple\u201d tradition on Wednesday, November 16. The college will begin to \u201cLight Up Purple\u201d in celebration of major college achievements, awards, and academic excellence<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About ACC Riverbat Da<\/strong>y&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The launch correlates with Riverbat Day \u2014 an annual day of celebration to recognize and honor the college\u2019s mascot and what it represents to students, alumni, employees, and our community. ACC invites the entire community to wear their Riverbat gear or purple colors to join us in celebration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University Federal Credit Union gift gives hope to all students Paying for college is one of the biggest barriers students face. According to national data, 68 percent of students worry about having enough money to pay for school. Austin Community College District (ACC) is proud to celebrate the largest donation to scholarships in\u00a0ACC history \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,116,89,54],"class_list":["post-2706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chancellors-priorities","tag-awards","tag-facilities","tag-partnerships","tag-scholarships","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/shared-governance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}