KCTCS President addresses Rotary Club of Louisville

Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) President Michael B. McCall, addressed the Rotary Club of Louisville on May 19 at the Galt House East.
 
Dr. McCall received a donation of $250,000 from the Louisville Rotary, which will be matched by KCTCS, and used toward the new Louisville Rotary Promise Scholarship. The funds will be placed into an endowment.
 
The scholarship effort, formally launched in the fall, is an ambitious program to provide two-year college scholarships to all qualifying students from at-risk Louisville high schools.  If fund-raising efforts reach their $2 million goal in time, the program will begin with freshmen in the Class of 2016.
 
Louisville Rotary hopes to identify at least four Jefferson County public Schools high schools with low college going rates. Qualifying students will earn a minimum 2.5 GPA by graduation, achieve a 90 percent or better high school attendance, and have no major disciplinary issues. The scholarship will pay for 60 credit hours at Jefferson Community and Technical College, enough to earn an associate degree.
 
The program is designed to address the affordability gap faced by many families and to motivate students to be successful in high school and college,” said Henry Heuser, Jr., president of the Rotary Club of Louisville. “We have too many bright, ambitious students who think college is not an option for them. The scholarship takes away one critical barrier – affordability.”
 
Heuser said Louisville Rotary developed the program to commemorate the service organization’s 100th anniversary, to be celebrated in 2012. Equally important, the program supports the 55,000 Degrees Initiative to increase college attainment rates in the region.