Fifteen high-achieving Onondaga Community College students have been chosen to attend tuition-free thanks to a gift to help fund a new Honors College. The Lillian Slutzker Foundation donated $250,000 to endow the scholarships, which will give students a better chance of being accepted to a four-year institution.
Inaugural scholar and West Genesee graduate Griffin Sasso says the program has had a huge impact on his future.
"I would have accrued much more debt, and ultimately would be paying a lot more later. I definitely would have regretted doing that. I would have ended up at a four year institution that's not nearly as good as the one's I'm looking at now."
Sasso is on OCC’s lacrosse team, and is studying communications, hoping to pursue a four-year degree at Syracuse University or Cornell. The honors students have to make a two-year commitment to OCC as part of the program. Chair of the Honors College, Chris Thuot, says it’s designed to provide the students with life-long skills thorough a challenging, specially designed curriculum rooted in the liberal arts.
"We want to nurture the intellectual curiousity of students, and provide them with the critical and ethical reasoning skills that will serve them well, not only as students, but as human beings, as members of their communities, and as citizens of the world."
In addition to attending tuition-free, Honor students also receive a $300 stipend for books and supplies each semester. Henninger High School graduate Autumn Leininger is studying humanities and social sciences. She says this program is the reason she could continue onto higher education and pursue her passion.
"Between my single mother and I, there was no way college could be afforded. There was a time I was working 30 or more hours as week at Wegmans, and I pondered skipping college to save money. I had bills to pay and college did not fit into my income."
Leininger says a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders when she received the letter informing her that she was accepted into the Honors College. Without the Slutzker Family Foundation's support, she wouldn't be able to pursue a Ph.D to become a psychologist. Before being accepted, students submit letters of recommendation, write essays and are interviewed.
