Kearns Center Opens Application Window for 2025 Summer Awards

By
Alexa Olson
Published
December 18, 2024
Headshots of the 2024 award recipients.
2024 Kearns Center Summer Award Recipients

The David T. Kearns Center at the University of Rochester is a place aimed at staying true to its mission of Transforming Lives Through Educational Opportunity.

The staff at the Kearns Center are focused on that mission every day, and know that for students, offering support - whether it’s academic, personal, or financial – can be the most transformative.

The Kearns Center can offer financial support in a couple different ways, including through donor funded awards. “Donor contributions are integral to the Kearns Center's mission of expanding educational opportunities and creating pathways to success for our students,” says Director of the Kearns Center, Dr. Miguel Baique. “These gifts not only enable the Center to offer financial awards but also empower students to pursue their academic goals without the total weight of financial stress. This support opens doors to transformative experiences such as research opportunities, internships, and study-abroad programs that might otherwise be inaccessible. By alleviating financial barriers, donor contributions allow students to dedicate themselves fully to their education and personal growth,” Baique says. Students interested in applying for funding through the Kearns Center have the opportunity to do so, with the 2025 summer awards application now open.

In 2024, the Kearns Center awarded five students summer awards including - Jennasea Licata, Gulsinam Akhmadzhanova and Emily DeVeyra. The students say the financial support they received was instrumental in enriching their college careers and allowing them to reach their academic goals. The funding was used by the students in a few different ways; to either take a course over the summer, support a study abroad experience or pay for food and housing to stay in Rochester over the summer and complete research or an internship. The students say they would not have been able to afford those experiences if it weren’t for the money they received. “Ultimately, donor funds are more than just monetary support—they represent an investment in the next generation of leaders, innovators, and changemakers,” explains Baique. “By directly contributing to the success and empowerment of our students, donors play an essential role in transforming lives and advancing the Center’s mission of equity, access, and excellence.” Award recipient Jennasea Licata, a University of Rochester senior majoring in molecular genetics agrees and says getting a financial award can have an inspiring impact. “Thank you to the donors...The funding that they provided lets students know that there are people out there that are willing to invest in them.”

2024 Kearns Center Summer Award Recipients
Gulsinam Akhmadzhanova poses for the camera.Emily DeVeyra smiling at the camera.Jennasea Licata smiling at the camera.
University of Rochester Junior Gulsinam Akhmadzhanova in the Kearns Center living room. November, 2024. Photo: Alexa Olson, University of RochesterUniversity of Rochester Junior Emily
DeVeyra in the Kearns Center living room. October, 2024. Photo: Alexa Olson, University of Rochester
University of Rochester Senior Jennasea Licata in the Kearns Center living room. October, 2024. Photo: Alexa Olson, University of Rochester

Licata received the Alan and Mark Frohman Fund Award and used the money to help her fund her stay in Rochester over the summer so she could participate in an internship at a biotech company. “Receiving this award made it possible for me to complete a summer internship in the first place,” Licata says. “It did more than just help me reach my specific academic and personal goals, it elevated my professional skills and aspirations, allowing me to participate in a deeply enriching and meaningful experience that has huge implications for my future career and personal growth.” Licata, who is currently applying to PhD programs, says funding opportunities are pivotal, by eliminating financial barriers and helping support experiences that can mark a clear turning point in a student’s life. “When you are finally given an opportunity, and you’re ready to run with that opportunity, it makes a myriad of difference in your goals,” Licata says.

Gulsinam Akhmadzhanova, was one of those students who used the funding she received to take a course over the summer. “This scholarship helped me reach my goal of satisfying all pre-medical course requirements prior to my junior spring semester,” says Akhmadzhanova, a junior at the University of Rochester who is majoring in mathematics and on the pre-medical track. “This is a huge deal for me as a pre-med student and enables me to be closer to my dream of being a physician, in fact the first physician in my family.” Akhmadzhanova was awarded the Mark and Jill Goldstein Fund Award and says she had the opportunity to meet Mark Goldstein earlier this year. “It was also such a pleasure meeting Mark Goldstein during Meliora Weekend. I did not understand that receiving this award meant I would be able to talk to and learn from such an accomplished leader.” Akhmadzhanova also says that receiving the award took a lot of weight off her shoulders and helped her build confidence in herself. “By taking the summer course, I also believe in myself more,” says Akhmadzhanova. “The Kearns Center is constantly giving us the tools and supporting us and encouraging us to reach our academic goals and as first-generation college students, that’s huge.”

Junior Emily DeVeyra is majoring in optical engineering and used the funding she was awarded to earn some math credits over the summer. “I initially wanted to apply for the award because I was interested in taking a summer course that I wouldn’t have been able to afford. Taking this course in the summer enabled me to take more classes related to my major and further explore my passion for optics,” DeVeyra says. “I hope to be a part of the optics field and one day share my curiosities through teaching. This award helped me catch up with the optics curriculum and left me with more room to take classes I’m interested in,” Deveyra explained. Not only does the funding lift a financial burden off her shoulders but relieves some mental stress as well. DeVeyra says because she was able to take the math course over the summer, she didn’t have to overload on her classes once the fall semester began. That allowed her to be fully immersed in her optics classes, something she doesn’t take for granted.

All the summer award winners had encouraging words to students who are thinking about applying for funding this year.  “If you don’t try, you won’t get it,” says Licata. “You owe it to yourself to invest in yourself. Invest, and think, and know that you are going to get to where you need to go. Not applying is not investing in yourself in that way.”

With the application window closing on January 27, 2025, students are encouraged to apply for any or all of the awards available. Awards include: The Frohman Fund, where up to $5,000 is awarded to allow a student to participate in an educational enrichment programs – with a preference for STEM majors/minors. The Goldstein Fund, where up to $5,000 will fund a summer course. The Sharpley-Whiting Fund, where up to $1,000 is provided for experiential learning activities, with a preference for humanities and social science students. And the Toates Fund, where up to $2,000 helps defray the costs of participating in experiential learning activities – with preference given to students seeking funding for international travel. In order to apply, a student must fill out the application on our website and provide copies of their resume, transcript and financial aid summary. Students will be notified by February 21, 2025 if they were chosen for a summer award.