For Immediate Release
May 16, 2007
Oakland, California

As she prepares for her own college graduation, Beatriz Torres will present the 2007 East Bay College Fund scholarships to 16 high school seniors at a May 23 ceremony at Mills College. Torres, who will graduate in June from UC Santa Cruz and plans to go to law school, is the first East Bay College Fund scholar to complete a four-year university degree.

“East Bay College Fund has played an important role in my college experience,” says Torres, a sociology major who received one of the organization’s first $16,000 scholarships in 2003. “They have supported me financially and have encouraged, guided and advised me academically and emotionally. They’re there with you for the entire four years.” A 2003 graduate of Oakland’s Life Academy high school, Torres came to the United States from El Salvador at age 11 and is the first member of her family to graduate from college.

East Bay College Fund President Andy Fremder says, “We have had the privilege of seeing Beatriz grow from an excited high school graduate to an accomplished young woman with a college degree and unlimited potential. That is what we are all about, and we are excited about the prospect of working with many more outstanding young scholars.”

The East Bay College Fund’s fifth annual “Great Expectations Awards” will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23, at the Student Union Building, Rothwell Center on the campus of Mills College. The community is invited to attend. Other speakers include David Silver, principal of Oakland’s pioneering Think College Now public elementary school.

The 2007 scholarship recipients attend Oakland and Emeryville public high schools, and were selected from among more than 150 applicants by a committee of diverse East Bay community members. The scholars have successfully prepared themselves for college while overcoming significant personal challenges. The majority will be the first in their families to go to college and this fall, they will attend such schools as UC Berkeley, UCLA, San Francisco State University, Colgate University and Columbia University.

Since its inception in 2002, East Bay College Fund has helped 59 resilient public high school seniors fulfill their dreams of going to college. The community-based nonprofit organization assists local students from low-income families and East Bay communities with historically low college attendance rates.

Along with its awards of $16,000, four-year college scholarships, East Bay College Fund provides mentoring and other sustained support throughout the scholars’ college years. Overall, the organization has granted college scholarships totaling $944,000.

“It seems like it was yesterday when I was getting my award,” says Torres, 22. “It’s an honor and it makes me happy to know there will be other people getting what I got.”

East Bay College Fund 2007 “Great Expectations” Scholars