Torrington Campus Rallies to Feed
At the Torrington campus – the only baccalaureate-degree granting institution in Litchfield County – this is the year of the scholarship.
As jobless rates hover near 10 percent nationally and 14.8 million Americans are unemployed, students everywhere have been feeling the pinch. State aid to public universities has dropped as well, making the argument for private giving even more compelling this year.
“I think our decision to focus on scholarships has much to do with the economy as well as with countless informal conversations we’ve had with students who need support,” says Michael Menard, the director of the Torrington campus. “Despite the affluence of Litchfield County communities, many students at the Torrington campus struggle to pay for the costs of higher education, and each year a greater and greater number of our students work full-time, or near to full-time, in order to pay for their education.”
Anna Petrisky is one UConn-Torrington student who has benefited from scholarships. A married mother of two children, Petrisky will finish her bachelor’s degree at Torrington with the hope that she will go on to UConn-Storrs for her master’s. “I am forever grateful for what has been given to me,” she says. “By remaining a Torrington resident, I have been able to establish a sense of community where I live and at the regional campus as well.”
Students who graduate from the UConn-Torrington campus subsequently support the area’s companies, retail shops, farms and non-profit institutions. Most of them, Menard says, remain in Litchfield County, forming an educated populace that works to better the county’s economy, and its way of life.
That means, Menard says, that an investment in scholarships for UConn-Torrington students is an investment in the economic vitality of Litchfield County.
Menard hopes to award ten $2,500 scholarships to local students each year. There are two ways to give to ensure that the scholarships continue to give throughout the years: through small, annual gifts that would be used to create a spendable account, or through major gifts that establish a permanent endowed account. The investment returns from the major gift account are then used to fund the scholarship awards.
For more information on supporting the regional campus in Torrington, please contact the Foundation's development department.
