Trinity Student Wins $5000 Study Abroad Scholarship

Trinity University's, student Amy Taffet was awarded a $5000 Study Abroad Scholarship by The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). NSCS, is a Washington based organization that awards one scholarship each year to a student who can show how he/she will make the best use of it. Amy won the scholarship amid a tough pool of applicants.

"We read hundreds of applications throughout the year, and Amy's truly stood out in the group," said Stephen E. Loflin, NSCS' executive director. "Her answers were focused, specific and explained how this program would help her, both in her undergraduate years and beyond. We are proud to help her represent the Trinity community, NSCS and the United States, overseas."

Above excerpt is from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars Social Media Press Relsease, published on this website.

It is a matter of pride for Trinity University that she was chosen among an applicant pool consisting of the best and the brighest brains from all over the United States.

I am also planning to study abroad next semester through Trinity University. Oh, no, I am not suggesting that I will also apply for this scholarship and probably keep this trend going on.

Excitement builds for Pervez Musharraf Lecture at Trinity University

With its successful accomplishment of the massive 200 million dollar capital campaign, Trinity University is on a roll. Amid all popularity, raised eyebrows and focus it has received from its peers and competitors, it has created more buzz again by inviting Pervez Musharraf, the former President of Pakistan. He is ubiquitously described as the person who once held 'the most dangerous job in the world'- a title given by the TIME Magazine. Musharraf will certainly take away a chunk of Trinity's endowment but will give Trinity students more exposure and probably an unparalled experience and a unique perspective to look at issues in South East Asia.

The [speaking] fee for Musharraf would be in the 150,000-200,000 range for a day," says Embark President David B. Wheeler

Musharraf will  be lecturing at Trinity University on Sept 17, 2009, Thursday in Laurie Auditorium at 7:30 pm "as part of Distinguished Lecture Series, made possible by generous endowments from from Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Brown of San Antonio. The Flora Cameron Lecture on Politics and Public Affairs is made possible by an endowment gift by Mrs. Flora C. Crichton of San Antonio" as reported in the Press Release by Trinity University. The former Pakistani president will be lecturing on "The World As I See It" at Trinity University. He has also lectured at Stanford University in the recent past (in January 2009) as part of the 'Big Speaker 2009' on the topic, "Terrorism and Extremism- The Need for a Holistic Approach."

Two tickets per Trinity Student ID can be accessed from September 8 to 11 at Laurie Auditorium's Box Office located on the third floor whose hours of operation begin from 10 am. Out of excitement, if you show up at 8 am (just like I did today), you might be disappointed and later angry for letting your sleep forgo. (The Official email sent out by Trinity University did not mention the hours of operation of the Box Office. And also, the Box Office is located in a very inconvenient location, finding it is much of a treasure hunt.) It is a matter to rejoice to students that Trinity students are getting first preference for these tickets to see his lecture. The tickets are absolutely free and assuming his fees are closer to $100,000(which is still lesser than predicted by David Wheeler), every ticket is still worth $40. I know you have started doing the Maths now, the official number of maximum occupants in Laurie is 2500 for this lecture (Yes, I asked them today). According to Indian Express, 

"Musharraf intends to raise funds for his future political activities from the lucrative lectures." 

Also, he is eagerly waiting to step into politics. Under current law, he has to wait for at least 2 years beginning his end of presidency before he can enter into politics.
 

There is no reason why Trinity students would not want to see it. Moreover, you could always make some extra cash if you are running low on cash by selling them later. Remember how few students made extra bucks by selling their tickets during the lecture by former US President Bill Clinton. The tickets were reserved (sold out) within few hours after it were distributed. Majority of Trinity students complained that they didn't even know.  It was primarily because former President Clinton had forbidden publicity in any form. But this time, Musharraf gave green signal to disseminating news to media or publicizing to students. 

Also, his lecture will be broadcast live on Trinity's website which should give a chance to others too to see his lecture.

Rising Against the Tide: Trinity University

As recession hit the economy, colleges and universities had started worrying about the reduction in their endowments which would mean less scholarships and grants for students, less capital to invest in order to improve education and less money to attract top notch professors and students. Several educational institutions admitted that their endowment had been reduced by a huge margin, ranging up to 25 percent which was still less than 40 percent reduction of stocks in the stock market. And even elite universities like Harvard and Yale were not spared.

Brandeis University had to sell its more than century old museum in order to meet its costs. Other universities followed suit by either decreasing student scholarships, reducing its faculty workforce size or by increasing tuition fees. Amid all this chaos, there was one educational institution that stood tall against the tides. It announced that it had achieved its mission of raising a massive 200 million dollars as part of its capital campaign for University Endowment. It also gave away more scholarships than previous years, hired several professors and welcomed the largest international student body in its history. With a capital campaign of ‘Dream. Inspire. Achieve.' Trinity University rose against the tide and surprised the educational world.

The timing at which it announced its massive capital campaign couldn’t have been worse. Soon after Trinity announced its ambitious plan under the presidency of Dr. John Brazil, 9/11 struck and spread of terror temporarily stagnated US economy. The campaign was stalled for a year following that dreadful incident said Vice President Marc Raney as quoted in My San Antonio.com. As things were starting to get a little better, US economy took a slump and things stopped getting rosy again. But, president Brazil still pushed for the campaign and used his skills and charm to achieve what he earnestly aspired. Students at Trinity may not realize how much hard work and perseverance was put into achieving this ambitious goal and what this accomplishment means for their education at Trinity. But this will manifest in various ways that will probably not go unnoticed.

While students, both national and international were worried about how this economic recession will translate in their financial aid package, Trinity students got to see unexpected results. Trinity University increased every student’s financial aid this year, meaning there was not a single student who saw a decrease in his/her financial aid. On top of that, Trinity admitted a record high number of international students. It’s a huge commitment since needs of international students are several times higher than those that of national ones. To commit to this means substantial aid has to pour in every year for their entire 4 years at Trinity. This huge burden would have been impossible without the accomplishment of this highly ambitious 200 million dollar capital campaign. San Antonio.com acknowledged it as “the largest private capital campaign in the city's history.”

Also, the renovations of various residence halls will not go unnoticed. It would not have been possible, viable or reasonable in these economic times had it not been for this accomplishment. Miller Residence Hall went a complete renovation and is now equipped with better facilities, in stark contrast to its till-now-but-no-longer-brother Calvert Hall. Plans to renovate Calvert Residence Halls have also been already announced. While Trinity already boasts of having ‘Dorms Like Palaces’ in Princeton review’s rankings, these moves will make Trinity’s residence halls even superior and provide an incentive to prospective students along with making Trinity students happier with Residential Life and the university administration as a whole.

Another major change will be the renovation of Science Buildings. Chapman Auditorium will also be renovated, parts of which have already been completed. Storch Building has also already seen some changes that have been appreciated by students and faculty. Pictures  related to these can be seen on Trinity Dean's Blog (Yes, above one is from his blog).  Moody Engineering Science building will be completely reconstructed and there will be new buildings for Engineering and Chemistry Department. While these might cause temporary uneasiness, it will be greatly appreciated and beneficial in the long run.

Dream. Inspire. Achieved. It also gave Trinity students to be proud of their own institution. According to a recent endowment analysis by National Association of College and University Business Officers, half of all colleges and universities have an endowment of 88 million or less. Trinity University has closer to 1 billion (I believe); 200 million dollar was what it achieved only in these few years under President Brazil. Trinity University has moved steadily and shone under the presidency of Dr. Brazil. It became much more diverse since it opened its doors to lot many international students. It has proven that it is a superior institution to attend, receive high quality education where students get to understand that”Life is what you make of it” (in President Brazil’s words).

See a complete description of how Trinity’s 200 million dollar Endowment will be spent.

(Please note that clicking on the above images will take you to its original location. Therefore, infringement of copyright has not been intended, the images are merely linked and the source is still its original location.)

Google Scholarships

Google Scholarships

It feels great to see that Google actually gives away several annual scholarships to students to encourage them to do better. I was excited and had a look at the scholarships awarded to students and checked to see if I had a chance.

Unfortunately, I realized I did not qualify for any of those. It seemed that in order to be eligible for any of them, I had to be a minority of some sort, either a female pursuing computer related degree or belong to a less common ethnic group such as Native American. I am an Asian and a male. Sorry, no scholarships for you. How ridiculous! I am not against positive discrimination but at least others too should have a chance.

Mountains Beyond Mountains

Written by Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains is a tale of a humanitarian effort led by Paul Farmer in rural Haiti to revamp or more appropriately to create a health system. The book tells an extraordinary tale of hope and determination in the face of utter poverty and suffering in Haiti, one of the most impoverished regions on the Earth.

Chosen as The New York Times Bestseller and picked as the best books by other rating groups too, it was the designated book as the Reading TUgether Program at Trinity University during summer for all Trinity students. It was also chosen as part of the summer reading program at other colleges like Syracuse Univeristy and Sewanee, University of the South of Sewanee. The book is very inspiring and a must read for everyone.

Trinity University also maintains a policy of inviting the inspiring person (usually the lead character) in its Reading TUgether Program book. Last year (2008), 'Three Cups of Tea' was chosen as its official Reading TUgether book and Greg Mortenson had come to deliver a very inspiring speech at Trinity that was attended by a large number of Trinity students and faculty including other interested people of San Antonio since it was made open to the public. This year too, expectations were similar. However, Trinity students were a little disappointed when neither Tracy Kidder, the author of the inspiring book nor Paul Farmer himself came to deliver the speech at Laurie Auditorium of Trinity University. Syracuse University, however invited Tracy Kidder to deliver a speech at its university after designating his book as the summer reading book. It should send a message to Trinity administration that a strong message is reverberated if the author himself or the inspiring personality himself/herself comes to deliver the speech.