Phi Theta Kappa Meets Second Hites Challenge; $2 Million Scholarship Endowment Secured
Phi Theta Kappa has met the second Hites Challenge, raising $350,000 that has been matched almost 2-1 to boost the Hites Scholarship endowment to $2 million.
The good news was announced at the 2010 Convention in Orlando by Foundation Executive Director Dr. Nancy Rieves and Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Dr. Rod A. Risley.
Ray Hites, president of the Hites Family Community College Foundation and a Phi Theta Kappa Foundation Trustee, congratulated Society members, advisors, administrators, chapters, regions and alumni for an outstanding team effort. He also praised Phi Theta Kappa’s commitment to encourage members and all community college students to complete their associate and baccalaureate degrees.
Phi Theta Kappa met the first Hites Challenge in 2009, and the first Hites Scholarship recipients will be announced soon. Five members will receive 2010 Hites Scholarships of $7,500 to help defray costs of baccalaureate studies. A total of 510 applications for Hites Scholarships were received.
Three years ago the board of directors of the Hites Family Community College Scholarship Foundation issued the first Hites Challenge to Phi Theta Kappa to raise $350,000, which the Hites Foundation would match almost 2-1.
To quote Phi Theta Kappa’s Executive Director Dr. Rod A. Risley, this offer could not have come at a better time. Students, their parents, faculty and administrators know all too well the cost of completing a college education. Tuition rates at four-year colleges and universities are soaring, student loans cause some graduates to begin their careers burdened under impossible debt, and employment prospects in the present economy are unstable.
Phi Theta Kappa launched the first Hites Scholarship Challenge in 2008, with gifts ranging from $50,000 contributed by a corporation to smaller donations from individuals. Chapters enthusiastically participated in “Every Dollar Makes a Difference,” and sent donations of $1 for every new inductee. A major individual donor was Phi Theta Kappa’s longtime Board chair and friend, the late Dr. Shirley Gordon.
“Working together, we have accomplished the impossible – we have met both challenges in less than two years, half the time allotted by the Hites Foundation. Since 2008, 97 chapters have participated in Every Dollar Makes a Difference, contributing more than $62,900,” said Dr. Rieves.
The Hites Scholarships will play a major role in Phi Theta Kappa’s commitment to promote degree completion, Dr. Risley said. Phi Theta Kappa was one of six organizations representing community colleges that recently pledged to increase student completion rates by 50 percent in the next decade.
