First and foremost, to understand how we arrived at this particular scholarship idea, you must first understand Andrew, Andy to some, Go-Go to many others. Andrew was a fighter who overcame certain odds as a child. He started out afraid to go to sleep away camp, yet wound up a world traveler. He began life with a learning disability; he ended with a B.S. from Hobart College and a 30 year old Vice President at Cantor Fitzgerald.
He was a true champion for the underdog and was incapable of passing by someone in trouble, friend or stranger, without reaching out to help. In fact, Andrew was someone who never met a stranger; he or she was just a friend he hadn't yet met.
He was a native New Yorker, in love with New York. He was born here, grew up here, worked here and started his adult life here.
He was a kind, genuine, creative, bright, loving person. And he is someone who deserves to be remembered.
And it is because of all of this that we have arrived at Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO). In 2001 we created the fund with the help of SEO, an organization that has made extraordinary achievements in education in New York for more than 40 years. It is with their help that we selected our first four "Andrew Golkin Scholars" to participate in the SEO Scholars Program. A rigorous program of Saturday, after-school and summer programming that helps students from New York City public schools excel in high school, gain admission to and graduate from top colleges and establish successful careers.
Our first five years have been an incredible success and we are proud to announce that three more of our students have graduated from high school and gone off to the University of Chicago , Dartmouth College and the prestigious CUNY Honors College at Hunter College . They join our nine students currently attending college as the fund continues to support these exceptional students throughout this phase of their academic careers. The scholarships they receive through the Golkin Fund help pay for tuition, books, transportation and other expenses that they must incur as they work toward their degrees. In addition to our college students, three members of the SEO Scholars Program High School Class of 2008 have been named Andrew Golkin Scholars for study beginning in Fall 2008. These three outstanding students are currently in their final year of high school and in the midst of the college application process. In total, we are actively supporting 12 bright and motivated students who show promise to thrive at the nation's top-colleges and beyond.
Thanks to SEO, the Andrew Golkin Memorial Scholarship Fund has no administrative expenses to date so that 100% of every dollar raised has gone directly toward helping our students.
We truly can not think of a more worthy cause to honor our friend's memory. |
