Seven new Daniels Scholars, of the 50 selected for 2001, have enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder for the fall semester, the highest number of all public institutions in the state.
The announcement was made by Eric Doepel of the CU Foundation and Carrie Besnette of the Daniels Fund.
According to Besnette, director of the Daniels College Prep and Scholarship Program, scholarship winners from Colorado receive support to attend any school in the country.
"It's a credit to CU-Boulder and to our other in-state colleges and universities that many of our students elect to stay in Colorado for their undergraduate educations," she said. "We believe these students will make significant contributions to the state, and we're very proud to be part of that."
The Daniels College Prep and Scholarship Program began in 1999, targeting students who demonstrate financial need, academic promise, strength of character, leadership potential and the ability to contribute to one's community. The Daniels College Prep Program is a prerequisite for eligibility for a scholarship from the Daniels Fund. The program currently operates in 41 high schools in the Denver metro area and will eventually expand statewide.
"We're very impressed with the academic dedication of our Daniels Scholars," said Doepel, the CU Foundation's development director for scholarships. "The people at the Daniels Fund and the counselors in the Denver-area school systems do an excellent job of identifying these students and preparing them for the rigors of higher education at a major public research university such as ours."
Students in the Daniels College Prep Program are considered for one of two different scholarship levels. Daniels Scholars receive a four-year "unmet need" scholarship to any four-year accredited college or university in the United States or, if more appropriate, students may receive a transition scholarship.
A transition scholarship allows a student to attend a community college or four-year institution close to home for two years, with the intent to complete their education at a four-year institution for their junior and senior years. Those selected for the four-year scholarship attend an approved summer bridge experience either at their prospective college campus or through the Daniels Summer Bridge Program.
This year, a total of 11 Daniels Scholars from 2000 and 2001 will attend CU-Boulder, as well as two students receiving transition scholarships.
CU-Boulder's Daniels Scholars include students in diverse majors such as electrical engineering, architecture, international business and political science. They are also involved in some of CU's special academic programs like the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) and the Minority Arts and Sciences Program (MASP) on a voluntary basis.
"The Daniels program has provided me with incredible academic resources, from the summer bridge events prior to my enrollment at CU to the academic excellence program," said Robert Barba, a CU-Boulder sophomore and Daniels Scholar from Denver's George Washington High School. "The Daniels Fund and CU faculty and counselors clearly want to see us succeed, and that's a very encouraging feeling at this point in our careers." Barba is a pre-journalism major at CU and a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
Bill Daniels owned and operated hundreds of cable television systems in the U.S. and founded Daniels and Associates, a provider of banking services to media and technology companies. His philanthropic endeavors included founding the Daniels Fund and the Young Americans Bank, which provides banking services to children and young adults, and helping to found Cenikor, a nonprofit rehabilitation center. Daniels was an undefeated Golden Gloves champion of New Mexico, a naval fighter pilot in World War II and Korea and a commander of the Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
Inquiries about establishing student scholarships at CU-Boulder should be addressed to Eric Doepel at (303) 735-3755 or eric.doepel@cufund.colorado.edu.