UHD University Advancement Receives Significant Gift

The Greater Texas Foundation Endows a Scholarship and More

(Houston, Texas, July 16, 2007) A dozen UHD top brass smiles lit a seventh floor conference room as Dr. Wynn Rosser, Executive Director of The Greater Texas Foundation, presented a $100,000 check to UHD President Max Castillo.  

The money came to the university as the result of a well-crafted proposal from University Advancement, and came in the form of a challenge grant. The Greater Texas Foundation provides $100,000 to establish a Removing Educational Barriers Scholarship Endowment, and UHD matches that grant with $100,000 of its own (from Title V funds).

"While the endowment is being built, it may appear that the awards are smaller because we can only use the earnings, but over time it means the university will have a long-term, predictable source of scholarship funding in perpetuity," says Michele Sabino, Executive Director of University Advancement. "Increasing our capacity to award scholarships lowers the debt to income ratio of our students and ensures their success."

As Castillo commented that the check was a godsend for financial aid programming, Rosser surprised the UHD President with two more envelopes, each containing a $25,000 award letter, the first to fund the Generation Proud Scholarship for first-generation college students and the second to fund the Rising to the Challenge Scholarship for transfer students.

"Dr. Sabino and her team wrote very compelling arguments for these two awards, as well," Dr. Rosser said.   "The competition was heavy, but her proposals convinced the board to make the extra awards to UHD."

It is the goal of the Greater Texas Foundation to establish endowments with a number of institutions in Texas. Only ten have achieved the $100,000 mark, including UHD.

UH-Downtown is a public university of nearly 12,000 students, offering a wide variety of bachelor’s degrees, as well as master’s programs in criminal justice, professional writing, security management and teaching. One of four distinct universities in the UH System, Houston’s Downtown University is nationally recognized for its student diversity, wireless campus, outstanding academic opportunities and productive community partnerships. At UHD, the emphasis is on excellence in teaching and student success.

Please use UH-Downtown, UHD or University of Houston-Downtown when referring to our university.