UH Hilo announces 2016 Dorrance Scholarship recipients

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Kakugawa-Leong, (808) 932-7669
Dir, Media Rel, University Relations
Posted: Apr 15, 2016

Ten high school seniors from Hawaiʻi Island who are enrolling this fall at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Hilo have been awarded the Dorrance Scholarship. 

The 2016 Dorrance Scholarship recipients and their schools are: 

* Lexi Dalmacio, Honoka’a High School
* Twylah Marie Morelli, Konawaena High School
* Alec Goodson, Kealakehe High School
* Jordan Drewer, Hawai’i Academy of Arts and Science
* Keinan Agonias, Pahoa High School
* Kaylyn Ells-Hookano, Hilo High School
* Eva Abraham, Waiakea High School
* Duke Escobar, Waiakea High School
* Kahele Joaquin, Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo PCS
* Yukio Ishii, Kamehameha Schools Hawai’i

The Dorrance Scholarship was established by Bennett and Jacquie Dorrance at the Arizona Community Foundation in June 1999. The innovative, four-year, need-based award provides local students, who are the first in their family to attend college, up to $10,000 a year in direct financial assistance. Recipients will also participate in a custom-designed summer bridge program, international travel, conservation experience, an entrepreneurship program and employment preparation, bringing the total estimated value of each award to more than $90,000. 

“Providing educational opportunities for first-generation college students is a core part of UH Hilo’s mission,” said Chancellor Don Straney. “The Dorrance Scholarship has become a model for how to effectively address that need.” 

The Dorrance Foundation began offering up to 10 scholarships a year to Hawai’i Island high school graduates attending UH Hilo in 2012. The latest awards bring the total number of recipients to 49. 

For more information about the Dorrance Scholarship, visit 
www.dorrancescholarship.org or contact Mathew Estrada, program coordinator,
Dorrance Scholarship Programs, at mestrada@azfoundation.org or (808) 339-4500.