October 23, 2009

What's in a name?

Today, Scholarship Chicago becomes Chicago Scholars. The former name made it too easy to focus only on the financial support we offer students, when in reality our goals, and our successes, are far more extensive.

Our strategy is encapsulated in the phrase The Campaign for Chicago Scholars with the goal of finding 10,000 promising kids from every neighborhood in the city and helping them aspire to and reach their potential with the right opportunities. Scholarship money alone won't get first-generation and under-resourced students into the colleges and careers of their dreams. They need our guidance, mentorship, and ongoing support. They need to know the options available to them: in order to realize their full potential, they must first recognize it. Working with our many partners, we are determined that when we reach our collective goal of 10,000 college grads by 2016, the work will just be launching. This future pool of leaders will drive exciting advancements throughout our city for decades to come!

How will we accomplish our goals? By reaching out to high school students as they are starting to contemplate college and educate them about how to find the right school, not the convenient one. It pays off- our retention and graduation rates of 95% speak for themselves. Additionally, we help our Scholars start to think about life after college through our internship and career exposure opportunities. By looking beyond the basic mechanics of applying to and paying for college, we are investing in a lifelong process of personal and professional development.

At every step of the process, our Scholars are in touch with a whole community of professional and mentors dedicated to helping them take advantage of the opportunities they've earned. This is what our students tell us they appreciate most, time and time again: they came for a scholarship, but they stay for the community.

So we're changing our name and emphasizing what matters most: the thousands of talented Chicago scholars who are determined to succeed. We are still working for the future of our local communities, and still reaching out to Chicago's bright and ambitious students in order to cultivate the passionate and civic-minded leaders of tomorrow. We want our name to reflect how much more we offer than just money and why it is important - because our kids are our future.

I hope you will join us in making Chicago an even better place to live, learn, and to work!

Regards,

Karen G. Foley, President