Smith College
Office of College Relations
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Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
www.smith.edu/newsoffice

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May 17, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three Springfield Students Receive Full-Tuition Scholarships
to Attend Smith College

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-Three high school students from Springfield will enroll at Smith College in the fall free of the annual requirement to pay tuition, thanks to a full-tuition scholarship they have each received from the college.


The students, all seniors, were recently named recipients of the Springfield Scholarship, the centerpiece of the Springfield Partnership, a program started by Smith in 1999 to strengthen its relationship with the state's third most populous city, the largest urban area in western Massachusetts.


The Springfield Scholarship recipients are Alison M. Jacobs, a senior at Springfield Central High School, and Cheerda Ly and Adriana Piedad Rua, both from the High School of Science and Technology. They will join four previous winners of the scholarship at Smith.
The students were chosen on the basis of their academic achievements and contributions to their schools and communities. Each will receive the scholarship for each of her undergraduate years at Smith. For 2002­03, the value of the scholarship is $25,780. The scholarship amount will rise accordingly if tuition is increased.


Jacobs is the president of her school's chapter of the National Science Honor Society, a member of the National Honor Society and vice president of the Sinai Temple youth group. She is the art editor of Aerie, her high school's literary magazine, and has served as a drama stage manager. She worked part-time as a cashier at the Longmeadow Community Market.


Jacobs, the daughter of Ann M. Haggerty-Jacobs and Paul A. Jacobs, is interested in studying biology and fine arts at Smith.


Ly, an honor student and member of the National Honor Society, plays the clarinet in the high school band and plays soccer and tennis. She has participated in the South East Asian Research Coalition to Help (SEARCH), a mentoring program to assist Hmong girls in the community in coping with cultural differences and preparing for college. Ly has worked as a math tutor and a teacher assistant for summer school students and has held a part-time job at Baystate Medical Center.


Ly is the daughter of May Nou Yang and Yia Ly.


Rua is the vice president of her high school class and serves as the public relations officer for the school's chapter of the Key Club, an international community service organization. Rua last year attended Upward Bound, a program that provides support and academic opportunities to students preparing for college.


Rua is the daughter of Iris and Roberto Rua. She is interested in studying engineering at Smith.


The Springfield Partnership is one in a series of initiatives at the college intended to expand Smith's ties with the city. The college's School for Social Work serves some 500 Springfield students and families by placing interns in the city's schools, workplaces and community centers. Undergraduate volunteers provide tutoring and life skills training at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Center and several of Springfield's public schools. And through "Kids to College," admissions staff members at Smith collaborate with Chestnut Middle School in presenting to sixth-grade girls a program on careers and higher education.


Founded in 1875, Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's best liberal arts colleges. Enrolling students from every state and 55 other countries, it is the largest undergraduate women's college in the United States.

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