Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Friday will announce the creation of the HOPE Scholarship, a program designed to provide the City’s low-income student residents who are the first in their families to attend college with the financial support to reach for their dreams.
HOPE — which stands for Helping Our People Excel — will award eligible students with up to $7,000 per academic year so they can close the gap between other scholarships funds, financial aid and the cost of tuition and fees.
The scholarship is made possible through a private-public partnership between Salt Lake City, the Semnani Family Foundation and the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. Jointly the Foundation and the David Eccles School of Business have seeded the HOPE Scholarship fund with $150,000.
A news conference is scheduled at The Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office on Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, at 2:30 p.m.
“I am thrilled that the City, the Semnani Family Foundation and the David Eccles School of Business have joined forces to support the youth in our community in their pursuit of higher education,” Mayor Biskupski said. “Education is the foundation on which we build our dreams and each of our kids deserves the chance to make those dreams a reality.”
Need-based HOPE scholarships are open to incoming and currently enrolled University of Utah students. Priority will be given to applicants who have participated in the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Promising Youth Project or Explorers Program or Salt Lake City’s YouthCity program.
HOPE grew out of a conversation between Khosrow B. Semnani, founder and president of the Semnani Family Foundation, and Mayor Biskupski that began more than a year ago. Both were searching for a meaningful opportunity to support Salt Lake City youth.
As a businessman, Semnani said he continually looks for the greatest return on his investments. The Semnani Family Foundation focuses on helping young people or for the same reason, he said.
“The earlier you start, the greater the returns for both the youth and the community,” Semnani said. “By encouraging selected youth to be involved in Explorers, Promising Youth Project and YouthCity and by tying the HOPE Scholarship to these city programs, we are creating a positive force that will enhance the success of these young people in tomorrow’s world.”
The David
Eccles School of Business joined the HOPE Scholarship effort as an enthusiastic partner. The school will manage the scholarship application and award process. HOPE scholars will study under the school’s Opportunity Scholars program, which provides mentors, tutors, academic advising, networking opportunities, and anytime access to program staff.
“This partnership incentivizes kids who are working hard, contributing to our community, and serving as role models to their peers,” Richard Kaufusi, director of the Opportunity Scholars Program said. “It not only gives students the financial support they need to go to college, but it also provides a community to see them through to graduation.”
Mayor Biskupski said she is also deeply grateful to Angela Doan, Senior Advisor for Education in the Mayor’s Office, who worked with the partners to create the HOPE Scholarship program.
The goal, Doan said, was to create a program that encourages and rewards youth for their academic achievements and positive choices so that they will have more opportunities and options when considering their futures.
“The HOPE Scholarship sends an important message of support to Salt Lake City students and their families,” said Doan. “It says that we believe in their potential and that we are committed to helping them find pathways to enhance their personal development and academic achievements so that they are on a trajectory toward successful lives.”
The first HOPE Scholarships will be awarded to students enrolled in the 2020-2021 academic year. For more information, contact the Opportunity Scholars Program office via email at opportunityscholars@eccles.utah.edu or by phone, 801-585-1752.