Alumni Newsletter - Connected
Features
Alumni Association Scholarships - It is Time to Apply for 2010-2011
One of the benefits of membership in the Chico State Alumni Association is the availability of scholarships funded by your membership dollars. There are four $1,000 scholarships ($500 funded each semester of the academic year) available to dependents of current members (as of 2/1/2010) of the CSU, Chico Alumni Association.
Initiated in fall 2003, the Alumni Association started with $500 scholarships offered to Chico State students from each of the seven colleges. In 2007, the Alumni Association changed their program to instead award four $1,000 scholarships to the most qualified students, without regard for their college or major. The students are evaluated based on fulfillment of all criteria, and on their answers to the questions on the supplemental application.
To apply, students must meet the following criteria:
- Must be the dependent of an active (as of 2/1/2010) member of the Alumni Association
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Minimum 2.0 Grade Point Average
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Must have a minimum of two semesters left to graduation
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Must complete the CSU, Chico Scholarship Application by December 15, 2009
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Must complete the Alumni Association Supplemental Scholarship Application by February 1, 2010
The Chico Chapter offers the Wayne Harder Memorial Scholarship to a Chico State student who is the dependent of a Chico Chapter member (the Alumni Association member lives in the 959 or 960 prefaced zip code areas). In addition to originating from the Chico Chapter area, candidates for this scholarship must have a GPA of 3.00 or greater, have a minimum of two semesters left to graduation, and must complete the CSU, Chico Scholarship Application by December 15, 2009, and the Alumni Association Supplemental Scholarship Application by February 1, 2010. The Wayne Harder Memorial Scholarship award is $2,000, with $1,000 awarded each semester.
The recipients of the five scholarships highlighted above are selected by the Alumni Association Scholarship Committee chaired by Susan Weinrich Best. The Chico Chapter also raises funds each year to support the awarding of two Graham Whitney Scholarships. Proceeds from the sale of bottled water at the Chico State Commencement Ceremonies fund the two $2,000 scholarships ($1,000 awarded each semester). The Graham Whitney Scholarships were named in honor of former Chico Chapter President, and founder of the Chico Chapter scholarship program, Graham Whitney. The scholarships go to incoming Chico State students from the Chico Unified School District with cumulative GPA's of less than 3.00. The recipients for these scholarships are selected by the University Scholarship Committee.
The 2009-2010 Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the Annual Alumni Association Lifetime Member and Scholarship Recipient Recognition event on December 3, 2009, held at the Warrens Reception Center on the Chico State campus. The recipients are:
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Wayne Harder Scholarship - Emma Slankard
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Alumni Association Scholarship - Cody Wackerman
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Alumni association Scholarship - Jessica Smith
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Alumni Association Scholarship - Brooks Sanders
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Alumni Association Scholarship - Melanie Smith (Spring Semester Only)
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Graham Whitney Scholarship - Liliana Guzman
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Graham Whitney Scholarship - Michele Arevalo
Congratulations to all of the 2009-2010 Alumni Association scholarship recipients. If you are the parent or guardian of a new or returning Chico State student for the 2010-2011 academic year, make sure you have your student complete the University Scholarship Application by December 15, 2009!
1955-1965 Chico State Reunion
What started as small talk between friends at a Delta Psi Delta Reunion late last year culminated the weekend of October 2-3, 2009 in the 1955-1965 reunion. Butte Creek Country Club played host to past Chico State students from all over the U.S. as they gathered together again to celebrate the “Golden Years.”
The weekend kicked off with a golf tournament and a barbecue on Friday and ended with mini reunions during the day on Saturday and dinner and dancing Saturday night. The mini reunions included Lambda Pi, Delta Psi Delta, Phi Kappa Tau, Alpha Gamma Delta, Block C, Delta Zeta, Alpha Chi, Sigma Kappa, and Delta Sigma Phi. There were also Book Signings for published alumni Bill Jeter, Bonnie Train Eddy, and Lani Walker.
This unique reunion was held to celebrate a special time at Chico 
State. Today, students number in the 17,000 range, but from 1955 to 1965 there were a little less than a fifth of that number. It was a time reminiscent of the movies, where everyone knew everyone else and we still had things like homecoming, yearbooks, and the much touted Pioneer Days.
Jan Logan came up with the initial idea for the reunion and put together a committee to plan the weekend. Committee members Roberta Mendonca, Versa Benzie, Diane Asnicar Daniels, and Delee Carrere Beavers were at the Butte Creek Country Club Saturday afternoon to set up for dinner. “If you knew Jan then you were on this committee,” Mendonca said.
“When we were planning, there were several meetings, several parties, there was always food, and different people came with different ideas,” added Benzie.
The committee initially thought that it would be a relatively small event, maybe 100 people for the big dinner Saturday night, but the room was at capacity with more than 350 people.
“It's just amazing the response we've had,” said Mendonca.
For a lot of the alumni Chico was a second home. “A lot of us didn't want to leave Chico when we graduated. So it's nice to be back and with this great group of people,” said Beavers.
For more information on the reunion visit: http://www.chicostate1955-1965.com/
The Soloist, the 2009-2010 "Book in Common"
Homelessness is something that most of us choose to ignore. We walk on by the soft declarations of “spare change?” not seeing the person but only the condition. But maybe we need to take a closer look. In 2006, a census was done that showed almost 800 homeless people in Chico alone. That number has only grown since then and is likely to keep growing. That may not seem like a lot, but Chico is a small community. Think about the 82,000 homeless there are on any given day in Los Angeles.
One of these thousands was given a second chance from someone who decided to take a closer look. Newspaper columnist Steve Lopez stopped and talked to Nathanial Ayres, a onetime attendee of the Julliard School who was hindered by schizophrenia. At first it was out of curiosity and the chance for a good story, but it turned into something much more. This meeting and subsequent friendship led to a series of articles about Ayres, then the best-selling novel The Soloist , and finally a movie starring Jamie Fox and Robert Downey Jr. More importantly, it led to finding Ayres help and getting him off the street.
California State University, Chico chose The Soloist as this year's Book in Common. The Book in Common project started a couple of years ago as a first-year experience program for incoming freshmen and transfer students. With last year's pick, Three Cups of Tea, the Book in Common spread throughout the community to include Butte College, Chico Unified School District, Butte County Library, as well as Barnes and Noble, the City of Chico, the Jesus Center, and many more organizations.
The project focuses on creating a discussion of issues that the Book in Common presents, such as homelessness and mental illness, and how our community can help address these issues. From August to March, events have been set up that center on the book and its central themes. Screenings of The Soloist and community discussions are just the beginning. Other events include music, such as the North State Symphony's performance of Beethoven's Fifth (Beethoven being a big influence of Ayres) as well as a Turner Gallery exhibit in the Meriam Library, Town Hall meetings, and showings of movies with similar themes such as The Pursuit of Happyness and Caveman's Valentine .
For more information on the Book in Common and for a full schedule of events, visit the Web site: http://www.csuchico.edu/bic/index.shtml .
