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Bellaire
SW Houston Rotary Club Awards $2,000 Grant To HCC Intensive English
Scholarship Fund
There has been a connection between Houston Community College and the
Bellaire Southwest Houston Rotary Club (BSWH) as long as most people can
remember. HCC Southwest administrators, faculty and staff have been
members of the club and members of the club have been adjunct faculty
members at HCC.
For example, Julian Fisher, HCC Southwest College Operations Officer, is
currently a member of BSWH Rotary. When Mike Livingston, current Chair
of the Rotary’s International Committee, returned in 1992 to Bellaire
after several years of working in Central Africa, he immediately began a
seven-year stint as adjunct instructor in the Intensive English Program
at HCC Gulfton.
“The (Rotary) club’s connection with HCC is ongoing,” noted Rotary
President Byron Holloway. “We are all part of the community and both
organizations strive to serve the citizens and work toward a better
Bellaire”.
Three years ago Grace Bishop, department chair of Intensive English at
the time, began working with the HCC Foundation to create a scholarship
fund to help financially-strapped Intensive English students. Bishop
recruited instructor Julieta Ruppert, who threw herself and her students
into pizza sales, garage sales, book sales, nacho sales and any other
sales that would add to the fund. She also pitched the program to other
faculty members, local businesses and interested individuals, asking for
donations. By the end of its first year, the Southwest Intensive English
Scholarship became an Endowed scholarship.
Ruppert had been involved in several BSWH Rotary projects and knew about
the club’s annual fundraiser and grants program. She applied for a
scholarship fund grant and HCC was accepted, receiving $2,000 now and
possibly another $2,000 later this year.
With the Rotary check in hand, Bishop says they have $17,000 in the SW
Intensive English Endowed Scholarship fund. She expects to have $20,000
by the end of spring on her way to an eventual goal of $100,000. |

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