{"id":169489,"date":"2021-02-25T07:15:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T12:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=169489"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:00:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:00:35","slug":"4-million-scholarship-gives-bridgeport-students-path-to-uconn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/02\/4-million-scholarship-gives-bridgeport-students-path-to-uconn\/","title":{"rendered":"$4 Million Scholarship Gives Bridgeport Students Path to UConn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freshman Lalaya R. Wilson, of Bridgeport, couldn\u2019t believe her eyes when she opened a letter last winter congratulating her on getting the equivalent of a full scholarship to UConn.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
(courtesy of Lalaya Wilson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy entire family, we just all just screamed. We were so happy to get this,\u201d she says. \u201cMy family started calling me Husky. They\u2019d say, \u2018Oh, Husky\u2019s here.\u2019 It was really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson is one of four students so far who has received a full ride to UConn with the help of a $4 million scholarship donated by an alumnus couple from Westport.<\/p>\n

The new endowed scholarship is earmarked for Bridgeport students, and covers educational expenses remaining after federal, state, private, and UConn grants and scholarships to meet the student\u2019s financial need. In many cases, this means that most of the costs to attend UConn, such as tuition, fees, room, board, books, and supplies, are covered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it helped a lot,\u201d says Wilson, the oldest of four children. \u201cI was always really worried about loans and just the whole financial situation. My family, we\u2019re not rich. Now I can focus more on school and picking my major rather than having to worry about whether I can pay off tuition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, who says she is a bit of an introvert, loves spending time with family and friends and is considering majoring in business and minoring in art. She loves watching documentaries and mysteries and recently discovered a passion for gardening.<\/p>\n

Tageria D. Davis, another scholarship recipient, is exploring a major in computer science and engineering and says she is grateful for the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"Tageria
(courtesy of Tageria Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe scholarship has really been a motivator for me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s caused me to do a lot of reflection on all the choices that I make on a daily basis. I could never have imagined that I\u2019d get a scholarship like this. I\u2019m deeply thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scholarship is linked to Connect-Us, a Bridgeport afterschool enrichment program for inner-city students. The donors wanted to provide a pathway to UConn for these students. Connect-Us participants get priority consideration for the scholarship.<\/p>\n

Pam Lewis, the executive director of Connect-Us, says the new scholarship is life-changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s incredible,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cOur young people in Bridgeport have a lot of dreams and a lot of aspirations just like kids who live in more middle-class and affluent communities. They have this opportunity to go to college and focus on their grades and not be worried about if they\u2019re going to have the money to pay. It makes all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

School of Business Dean John A. Elliott says the scholarship will have a lasting impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis gift of support for deserving students from Bridgeport is exceptional in several ways,\u201d Elliott says. \u201cIt enables students to earn a UConn education. It is not only a major economic benefit, but also gives the students a sense of support from their local community. Not only do the students gain affordable access to education, but the whole community is enriched by an enhanced workforce and greater economic and social mobility. We are immensely grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The donation, by an alumnus couple, is linked to an afterschool enrichment program in Connecticut’s largest city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":169492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2192,1862,2235,2306,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1902],"class_list":["post-169489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-fairfield-county","category-busn","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-voices","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-29 04:14:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169493,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169489\/revisions\/169493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/169492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169489"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=169489"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=169489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}