Donations from a small group of community members, foundations, and businesses allowed Allan Hancock College to announce at a press conference on Dec. 13 the start of its five-year, $10 million endowment campaign to support the Hancock Promise program, which will give local high school graduates a free first year of tuition and fees at Hancock starting summer 2018.
Since the plan for the Hancock Promise program was unveiled nearly four months ago, the college has received donations and pledges to the endowment fund amounting to more than $2 million in total. The college hopes to raise a total of $10 million in the next five years, according to Hancock Superintendent and President Kevin Walthers, which would solidify the program’s permanence.
Some of Hancock’s already existing internal funds and the recent donations will support the program for at least the next five years, Walthers said, maybe even seven. But the goal is to give the Promise Program permanent funding.
“We want people to know that when you come to northern Santa Barbara County and you graduate from a Santa Maria high school, you graduate from Lompoc, or Santa Ynez, or Cuyama, or even one of the private schools or a homeschool, you’re in,” Walthers told the Sun. “We’ve got you covered.”
Representatives from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, and the Santa Maria Kiwanis 4 Kids Foundation attended the press conference on Dec. 13, during which they presented Walthers and Guy Walker, chair of the Hancock Promise Fund, with checks worth thousands in support of the program.
“This shows the community support that we have,” Walthers told the Sun. “I mean, we have literally more than 100 partners involved in this, and to have these three really large community organizations step up is a great deal.”
President and CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation Ronald Gallo said at the press conference that the foundation’s board of directors approved a one-year grant of $250,000 in support of the Hancock Promise. The grant will directly pay for students’ tuition and fees.
“The Santa Barbara Foundation is thrilled to be an early supporter of the Hancock Promise,” Gallo said. “Allan Hancock College has proven to be an important and courageous resource to the communities it serves.”
Maynard Silva, president of the Noontime Kiwanis Club of Santa Maria, pledged $18,000 from the Santa Maria Kiwanis 4 Kids Foundation to the endowment fund, and the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley pledged $4,800.
Doris Lahr was the first donor to kick off the endowment campaign with a donation to the college in May, according to the college. Since then, various businesses and organizations—including Pacific Gas and Electric, Marian Regional Medical Center, the Murphy Family Foundation, Union Bank and Aera Energy—have offered pledges and donations to support the endowment campaign.
The Hancock Promise is set to begin the summer semester of 2018 and will be open to all who register at Hancock immediately after graduating from a high school located in the Allan Hancock Joint Community College District, which includes Cuyama and northern Santa Barbara County. Hancock estimates that Promise students will save more than $1,200 in tuition and fees, in addition to receiving priority registration and establishing an academic plan for success with personalized counseling.
“The Hancock Promise Fund will be an important 2018 priority for the Allan Hancock College Foundation,” Hancock Promise Fund chair Walker said in a press release. “Over the next five years, our goal is to ensure, in perpetuity, that the Hancock Promise is here to support our students and our community. We are well on our way toward that goal.”
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash compiled this week’s School Scene. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at mail@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 21-28, 2017.