Santa Monica College Foundation Celebrates With Surprise Scholarships at 70th Annual Luncheon
On Friday, June 12, Santa Monica College hosted the 70th annual SMC Foundation Donor and Scholarship Recognition Luncheon. Multiple students were awarded surprise scholarships, some totaling more than $50,000, while their families, donors, and SMC faculty cheered from the crowd.
SMC President Kathryn E. Jeffery congratulated the grant recipients and thanked the Foundation’s staff for their work. Jeffery also thanked major contributors, the Sharer Organization, and the Golden Globes Foundation, who contributed $455,000 in support of SMC’s programs this year.
Jeffery went on to reveal that some students were unaware of the scholarships they would be receiving at the event. She began by describing one student, listing their academic achievements, leadership roles and extracurricular activities. The crowd cheered when Jeffery called Yulia Klokova to the stage.
Klokova, a first-generation college student who graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA, described her disbelief and then the slow realization that the superintendent was describing her.
“At the beginning, I was like, there's no way it's me,” Klokova said, “and then it got very specific: EOPS scholars, and then tennis, and I'm like, okay, this is really niche."
"It feels really good that someone believes in you," Klokova said about receiving the scholarship.
Following Klokova, Jeff Lipp, an SMC Foundation board member, addressed the audience.
“Our purpose and privilege is to serve as a bridge between your generosity and the students whose futures are changed because of it," Lipp said. He then introduced the two recipients of the $50,000 Recharge scholarship – the largest the Foundation offers – Ayte Htwe and Jimell Briggs.
Jeffery described Htwe as building his skills through independent study, workshops and peer tutoring.
Htwe said he wants to create educational technology for underserved students in his home country of Myanmar: “I hope, with the money I get, I get to make a change.”
Htwe, a first-generation immigrant, studies computer programming. He said he was shocked to find out he had been selected for the scholarship. "I interviewed, and I didn't know what it was for, but I didn't expect it to be this," Htwe said.
Briggs, a single father transferring to UCLA to study public health, carried his infant daughter to the stage, set his prepared speech to the side. "It's not about the money to me," he told the audience.
“It's about being recognized... that I belong here,” said Briggs.
SMC Foundation President Dr. Lizzy Moore said the organization “is responsible for connecting with donors and finding the right opportunities for our donors who want to give back to our students in our programs.” Seeing Briggs walk up to the stage with his daughter was the most important moment of the night for her, she said.
"If we can do that, we can change people's lives,” Moore said.