APPLICATION The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation is proud to offer students who are Hispanic/Latino or of Hispanic/Latino descent scholarships annually. Applicants must complete the application, along with the required documentation, and deliver all documents and materials to the PMAHCCF via electronic or regular mail by the annual deadline. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered or accepted. In addition to a completed application form, applicants must write an essay of no more than 500 words. See application for more details. Applicants for the general scholarship must complete this application, along with the following required documentation and materials to the PMAHCCF via electronic or regular mail by the deadlineof each year. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered or accepted. In addition to a completed application form, applicants must write an essay of no more than 500 words. See application for more details. In addition to a completed application form, applicants must provide the following: 1. CURRENT, COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF GRADES ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
2. CURRENT, COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF GRADES ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
APPLICATION DEADLINE INFORMATION All application documents and information MUST be received by April 30 of every year in which the applicant is applying. All information received is confidential and is reviewed only by authorized PMAHCCF personnel. The PMAHCCF’s Scholarship Selection Committee selects the recipient of the Scholarship after assessing each application received. All decisions are final. | AWARD
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Investing in Hispanic higher education is crucial to the economic health and growth of our country. By providing scholarships and support to Hispanic students, we are not only investing in individuals but in the future of our communities and economy. According to a report by the Latino Donor Collaborative, Hispanic individuals will account for nearly 85% of the growth in the US labor force by 2050. As the Hispanic population continues to grow, it is essential to ensure that they have the necessary education and skills to compete in the job market and contribute to the economy. Furthermore, research has shown that increasing Hispanic educational attainment can lead to significant economic benefits. A study by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found that if the Hispanic population had the same level of educational attainment as the non-Hispanic White population, it could result in a $1.5 trillion increase in the US GDP. Investing in Hispanic higher education is also essential for closing the wealth gap and increasing diversity in leadership positions. Despite making up a significant portion of the population, Hispanics are vastly underrepresented in corporate leadership, politics, and government. By providing opportunities for higher education, we can help close these gaps and increase representation and diversity in all sectors of our society. Overall, investing in Hispanic higher education is an investment in our future. It will not only lead to economic growth and diversity but will also help create more equitable and just communities for all. |
Rob Vega Memorial Scholarship
Robert Vega dreamt, aspired and achieved. But he also was careful to see that those around him did the same. “He was always helping – not only for his brothers, but for everybody else,” his mother, Maria Elena Vega, said. “I remember him telling me, ‘I want Anthony [his younger brother] to be better than me.’ He wanted to go to law school and everything, but he was always first caring about them.” Rob – the eldest son of a Puerto Rican-born father and Costa Rican mother whose struggle to achieve the American Dream he sought to preserve and emulate by practicing immigration law – died in July 2013 following a rafting accident in a state park near the University of Pittsburgh, where he planned to pursue his law degree. He was 22. In a subsequent newspaper obituary, friends memorialized him as the type of achiever who would’ve grown up to be elected president. Even from a young age in suburban Connecticut and, later, Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, Rob was gifted and multi-talented, those closest to him remembered. He was multi-lingual, had a knack as a child for drawing and, in his teen years, took great pride in the most specific of things, like his penmanship. |
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Above all, he knew how to connect with people, his bond with his nuclear family was incredibly strong, and he was a bright kid with an even brighter future.
Rob, who recruited students to attend Pitt and interned under Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh in April, with a double major in psychology and political science. He planned to attend Pitt’s law school in the fall.
His fateful trip to Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County this summer was his first rafting trip.
His life in Pittsburgh, when he moved after graduating J.P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster County, didn’t have a textbook start. It was tough for Rob to be separated from the people with whom he had spent the vast majority of his first 18 years.
“He moved to Pittsburgh and he called, like the next day, saying, ‘You know what, Ma, I can’t be away from home,’” his mother said. “[He said] ‘even if some day I get married, I want to live close to you.’ That was the first time we were separated. And that really hit him.”
At Pitt, despite longing for his family, Rob excelled. Professor Kathryn Monahan taught him in an upper-level psychology class – Child Development And The Law – in his third year at school.
“There are many kids who fade into the background – he was not one of them; he was an all-star from the start,” his professor said. “He talked every discussion period. He just showed independence beyond his years. He was a great thinker and would have been a great lawyer.”
To Peter Morgan, Rob was first and foremost a great friend.
The two met when they were in the seventh grade – they had both world cultures and mathematics classes together – and, in Peter’s words, “ended up best friends then and there.”
“We clicked,” Peter laughed. “We were real good friends. We did everything together.”
He means everything, he joked. Peter, born color-blind, would text or e-mail Rob pictures of clothing he was thinking of buying so Rob could help him make educated decisions. When he traveled to his native Egypt, he always brought home Rob a gift.
“You don’t do that with every friend,” he said.
While Rob looked up to his family – especially his younger brothers – Peter said it was incredibly easy to get sucked into his orbit.
“He just graduated school; he wanted to go to law school,” Peter said. “I was like, ‘Hey, buddy, I’m gonna work for you one day.’”
“Being around him,” he said, “made you want to do better.”
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