PBHA To Create School Scholarship

Students at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School may soon benefit from a new scholarship program sponsored by the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), organizers announced yesterday.

Leaders of the PBHA Committee on Help for the Advancement of Needy Children through Education (CHANCE) told The Crimson that as of October 1, plans are underway for the creation of two $1000 scholarships to assist needy students in paying for college.

Organizers hope to raise between $40,000 and $50,000 from area businesses and foundations in the coming months, according to Patrick G. Jackson '91, who is overseeing the scholarship's fundraising effort.

Jackson said that because donors did not specify how much money they would give,he did not know the exact amount of money CHANCEhas raised so far.

Because the scholarship project has just begun,organizers said they doubt whether this year'srecipients will receive the full $1000scholarships.

Officials said that the recipients would beselected from among the 32 students who attendCHANCE's weekly classes on college preparation.

CHANCE, which is coordinated and staffed byHarvard undergraduates, sponsors weekly sessionsfor high school students on college preparation,consisting of courses in standardized testing,writing and creative learning.

Mark V. Joseph '90, president of CHANCE, saidthat the organization had been considering such ascholarship since CHANCE was foundedtwo-and-one-half years ago; but delayed work on itbecause leaders wanted to "focus their energy onputting the organization together."

Joseph said the scholarship effort has fosteredcooperation, between area business and Cambridgestudents.

"I think that it [the scholarship] is practicalin that it gives us more power to help thestudents in a lasting way," Joseph said. "It alsogives members of the business community a way toget involved with our program."

Jackson said that he hoped the twoscholarships--which will be given to the mostimproved and the most ambitious students--wouldprovide a greater incentive among the students toattend classes and become more enthusiastic aboutthe CHANCE program.

But Elsa R. Wasserman, principal of theCambridge Rindge and Latin School, said that shedid not see the scholarship as a way of inspiringmore enthusiasm in the students.

"I don't think that money will motivate them togo to college," Wasserman said. "The money meansthat college will be more realistic."

Wasserman added, however, that she believed thescholarship would greatly help those who arealready planning to go to college.

"[The scholarship] is another way of projectCHANCE saying to the student, 'We believe inyou,'" Wasserman said.

CHANCE will deposit the scholarship donationsin the Philips Brooks Endowment Fund and, byreinvesting part of the interest, can double thescholarship fund in the next 15 to 20 years, saidDavid E. Rogers '88, development director of thePBHA endowment.

"They [CHANCE] have an excellent an chance ofraising a large amount of money to endow thescholarship," Rogers said. "And that will make theprogram much better. The bottom line is that theyhave a lot of support in the area.