COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — This week, a Colorado Springs based foundation awarded $1.9 million in scholarships to 53 black students throughout Colorado.
The Sachs Foundation was founded in 1931 to give Black Americans opportunities that they otherwise would not have. They have been providing financial help to black Coloradans for decades.
The CEO of the foundation, Ben Ralston, said one of the goals is to make education more accessible.
"So, what we do is we look at the difference of opportunities, the fact that Black students still graduate with far more student debt than white students do, that Black families have far less family wealth than white families do, and we recognize that there's still a lot of inequity. And we've been doing this work for again, almost 100 years. So, this work just continues for us until that inequity is gone and the system changes,” said Ralston.
During a time where Diversity, Equity and (DEI) Inclusion resources are being cut, Ralston said they are continuing on with their work.
“Obviously, there's a lot going on at this moment to try to stop, you know, equity work, or to try to eliminate what is considered DEI work, but we really look at the fact that the opportunities are still not distributed equally, and we will just continue to do this work until they are,” said Ralston.
He said hundreds of high school students applied for the scholarship this year and 53 were awarded.
One recipient is high school senior Briona Robinson. She said this scholarship will help her pursue her dreams of helping others.
“When I was three, I wanted to be a heart doctor, but I didn't know. I thought that was, like, love or something,” said Robinson. “Growing up, I learned like, 'Oh, I definitely want to go to be a doctor.' I want to, like, help people.”
Robinson found her passion early on and is on the path to become a cardiothoracic surgeon.
“So, I made my own realistic models of the heart and lungs, and then also observed a bunch of surgeries myself and that was really interesting,” said Robinson.
In just a few weeks, Robinson will graduate from Fountain Valley School of Colorado, then she is off to Howard University in the fall.
“The main thing that pulled me to Howard was, one, it's an HBCU, and two, its medical program is really good. So, I was excited to not only be around people that think like me, but people who also look like me,” said Robinson.
Robinson said college and then medical school is going to be expensive, so she applied for a scholarship from the Sachs Foundation.
“The mission of Sachs Foundation, everything, like being able to uplift Black communities in Colorado, and like getting rid of those financial barriers. And I was like, this is definitely something I'm absolutely interested in,” said Robinson .
When Robinson was a sophomore in high school, she co-founded the first ever Black Student Union at her high school.
“It's been a great opportunity to just kind of create safe spaces for Black people on campus, because, as you know, PWI (Predominantly White Institution) are kind of hard for a lot of people of color, so just being able to provide, that was really powerful,” said Robinson.
She also made a documentary sharing what it is like to be a Black student at a predominantly white institution.
“(It's about) Diving deep into the world of like Black people in higher schooling and what that's like,” said Robinson.
Her documentary called “Not to be Denied” was shown in New York City at the 2024 All American High School Film Festival.
“I think I learned a lot about how important it is for Black students to be put into highly educated programs, because there's a lot of this narrative that it's not possible, or that... even though the mental struggles are hard, that it's like you shouldn't do it. But, I think the importance of doing that is so we get more people in higher fields, so that younger students can see themselves in those fields in the future,” said Robinson.
Robinson and the other Sachs Foundation scholarship recipients will be honored at a ceremony in June.
Every year from January 1 to March 15, Black Colorado residents can apply for scholarships. To learn more, visit the Sachs Foundation Website.
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