Rochester City Scholars Get Free Tuition at R.I.T.
By: Mark Gruba
Updated: September 1, 2011
R.I.T. President William Destler hosted a reception for the 26 members of the 2011 Rochester City Scholars program at his home Wednesday evening.
Marina Pacheco is among the Rochester City School District graduates who will attend R.I.T. tuition free. "It means my future, because I'm striving for success," she said.
So is Dylan Schuler, who said the program was an incentive to perform better in school. "My senior year I had the highest average G.P.A. I've ever had in high school and I think that my, wants, to come to this school drove that," he said.
His mother Darlene is grateful for the opportunity the program will provide her son. "We wouldn't have the financial means for him to go to R.I.T. so this is like helping him have his dream come true," she said.
This is the second year of the Rochester City Scholars program. The idea came from President Destler and his wife Rebecca. Students who live in the Rochester City School District for three years and attend a city high school during that period are eligible. The family income must not exceed $60,000. President Destler's goal for the program is to see it grow from 26 students to 100. "There are plenty of students in the Rochester City Schools who are smart enough, we just have to make sure they take a college mounted curriculum, they work hard and they see college as a possibility and not an impossibility," he said.
President Destler said funding for the program comes from existing federal and state programs, augmented by additional funds from R.I.T. as well. He and his wife provided that money in year one. Now they have community donors, including M&T Bank. "We want these kids to succeed, and as Bill and Rebecca said, there's been a 92 percent success rate so far with the first class, and we're hoping for 100 percent here with the second one," said M&T Bank President Daniel Burns.
For these Rochester City Scholars, this truly is the opportunity of a lifetime. "I'm looking forward to meeting new people, getting good grades, and just enjoying R.I.T.," said incoming student Kim Yaport.
Rochester Interim Superintendent Bolgan Vargas was also at the reception and called the Rochester City Scholars program a lighthouse for city students, one that gives the incentive to change their lives for the better.
