UC San Diego Hosts Fiesta de las Estrellas on April 17 to Benefit Student Undergraduate Scholarships

Annual scholarship fundraiser presented by UC San Diego’s Hispanic Scholarship Council honors community and business leaders who are advancing education

April 11, 2008

By Jade Berggren

“I don’t think you could understand exactly how much you have given me,” wrote Xenia Isabel Barahona to her scholarship benefactors for the support she has received while attending the University of California, San Diego.  “It’s more than just financial support, but everything I have experienced both in and out of the classroom that I owe to you, so thank you.”

Barahona is just one of the 58 promising students at UC San Diego whose lives have been touched by the generosity and dedication of members of the UCSD Hispanic Scholarship Council, which created Fiesta de las Estrellas more than a decade ago to raise scholarship funds for deserving students of great promise.  The council will hold the 11th annual Fiesta de las Estrellas fundraiser on April 17, honoring the achievements of six Estrellas—community and business leaders who have consistently worked to improve the world in which we live. 

This year’s honorees have made remarkable impact in fostering educational success within the Hispanic community, ranging from developing curriculum to better equip students for success in college, to increasing the number of college graduates from economically and educationally disadvantaged communities, to creating scholarship opportunities for college students of great promise so that they can concentrate more on their schooling than working to support themselves:

• Excellence in Business: Union Bank of California
• Excellence in Education: Barrio Logan College Institute
• Excellence in Community Service: Ted Martinez, superintendent and president, Rio Hondo Community College, and Lidia Martinez, manager, Corporate Community Affairs, Southwest Airlines
• Alumni Excellence: Blas Guerrero, Ph.D., ’83, director, Regional Academic Initiatives and Educational Partnerships, University of California Office of the President
• Excellence in Leadership: Richard Thome, professor of Practice, University of San Diego

“We congratulate the Fiesta de las Estrellas honorees for their accomplishments in an area that is very close to our hearts—educational success,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.  “We are also very proud to recognize the scholarship recipients who have benefited from the generosity of UC San Diego’s Hispanic Scholarship Council as they go on to make great strides in the local community, nation and world.”  

Since its founding, Fiesta de las Estrellas has raised more than $830,000 to provide undergraduate multi-year scholarships.  Students who have benefited from the Hispanic Scholarship Council’s annual event will be on hand at the Estrellas celebration to share their achievements, as well as their dreams for the future, such as those of scholarship recipient Amanda Esquivel who plans to enter the counseling field to help children with emotional and psychological problems and hopes that “one day I can help someone gain college experience, the way that they have helped me make my dreams come true.”

Sponsors for the 2008 Fiesta de las Estrellas program include The Jack in the Box Foundation; Union Bank of California—this year’s “Excellence in Business” Estrella; Alan Swinney, ’89; Bank of America Charitable Foundation; Barona Band of Mission Indians; Southwest Airlines; 10News/Azteca America San Diego; Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; BAE Systems; Cox Communications; Pérez & Wilson LLP; QUALCOMM; and San Ysidro Health Center.  Additional sponsors include Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc., Dudek and Associates; Barrio Logan College Institute—honored as the 2008 “Excellence in Education” Estrella; Gen-Probe; Genentech; Gilbane, Inc.; HDR Engineering, Inc.; San Diego State University; the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Office; UC San Diego Student Affairs; and URS Corporation.   

The celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17 in the Price Center Ballroom at UC San Diego. Those interested in attending Fiesta de las Estrellas and/or would like to join UC San Diego’s Hispanic Scholarship Council in supporting undergraduate students may contact Jennifer Leighton at (858) 822-1537.  Additional details on the event can be found at www.ucsdfiesta.ucsd.edu.

Media Contact: Jade Berggren, (858) 822-5309