Agapito Mendoza Scholarship Breakfast will provide funds for UMKC Latina/Latino Students

Dr. Theresa Torres will serve as keynote speaker for the March 19 event

The University of Missouri–Kansas City will hold its Sixth Annual Agapito Mendoza Scholarship Breakfast in honor of the late Vice Provost. The funds provide scholarships for Latina/Latino students attending UMKC.

Sponsored by the Division of Diversity and Inclusion, the breakfast will take place at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 19, in Pierson Auditorium in the Atterbury Student Success Center, 5000 Holmes St. Last year, approximately 250 campus and community members attended the breakfast to raise funds for scholarships.

The Mendoza Fund provides annually renewable $500 scholarships for tuition, books and housing for Latina/Latino students. This academic year, UMKC has awarded about $15,000 in Mendoza funds to 30 students and contributed more than $66,000 through the UMKC Hispanic Scholarship match for 34 students.

When the UMKC and the Hispanic Development Fund contributions are added, the total in scholarships for Latino students for the 2013-14 academic year was more than $100,000, which supported 64 scholarships.

Theresa Torres, Ph.D., UMKC associate professor in the Latina/Latino Studies Program and the Department of Sociology, will serve as keynote speaker for the breakfast.

Torres is an expert in Latina/Latino Studies, immigration, race and ethnic relations, religious studies and gender studies. Her current book, “The Paradox of Latino Religious Leadership in the Catholic Church” depicts ongoing dynamics of religious identity and gender among Kansas City Latinas.

Mendoza was known for his commitment to all students and believed that all students should be educated. Funding for the Agapito Mendoza Scholarships helps achieve his dream: to attract more Hispanic students and see them through to graduation.

“The success of the Mendoza Scholarship Breakfast is a demonstration of the value we place on the vital and unique experiences that Latina and Latino students add to the academic and cultural success of our university,” said Erika Noguera, coordinator in the Division of Diversity. “We ask that you help us carry on his tradition of support for each and every student in their particular academic dream.”

Guests will be asked to make a personal donation to the Hispanic Scholarship fund in the name of Agapito Mendoza. Each dollar donated will be matched by the Hispanic Development Fund, and UMKC will further match these awards.

Individual tickets at $38, and tables cost $300, which seats eight. For additional details and registration, visit the Mendoza site or call 816-235-1727.

 


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