Five Seniors Win Service Grants

Five seniors were awarded public service scholarship grants totalling $75,000 last night at a reception held in the Loeb House in Harvard Yard.

The five fellowship winners each received $15,000 which will be used for a public service project next year. In addition, three other seniors received prizes of $3,500 in recognition of their public service.

"It's a great honor," said Maria Elena Alvarado '95, one of the grant winners. "I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to continue my work, but now with the money I will." Alvarado will be working with unemployed Puerto Rican mothers in the South End.

The awards were given by the Stride Rite Community Service Corporation, a joint program of the Stride Rite Foundation--which is funded by the Stride Rite shoe corporation--and Harvard University.

According to Stride Rite Community Service Program director Greg A. Johnson '72, the award is aimed at encouraging community service by students and enabling them to continue their service work after graduation.

President Neil L. Rudenstine and Cambridge Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 were among the guests at the event. Previous Stride Rite Fellowship winners presented Erica D. Coleman '95, Ashley E. Hubka '95, Carlyle I. Lincoln '95 and Tonya M. Osborne '95 with the grants.

Excited and Honored

The winners said they were excited and honored to be able to implement their public service projects.

Coleman said he will be instituting a pre-collegiate program for black and Latino high school students in the Bronx.

Hubka, who has worked the homeless in the U.S., said her upcoming project will focus on pavement-dwellers in Bombay, India.

And Lincoln said he will intern in the housing unit of Greater Boston Legal Services.

"I will be interviewing people who are having problems with housing," Lincoln said.

Osborne said she was "happy" to have the opportunity to return to Baltimore, her hometown, to start a youth enrichment program for children from housing projects.

According to Johnson, the grant winners are chosen by the Harvard Fellowship Committee. The committee consists of the administration, members of the faculty and Stride Rite representatives.

"They were judged a third on their service record, a third on their character and a third on the nature of their project," said Johnson, who is also the executive director of Phillips Brook House.

The $3,500 recognition prizes, also awarded last night, went to Christopher J. Davidson '95, John B. King '95, and Maria Roghan '95.

In addition, the Harvard Fellowship Committee will select 40 undergraduate scholarship winners on May 1. The 40 scholars, who must be eligible for work study, will receive a $1,000 grant, a $500 book allowance and a salary subsidy of approximately $1,000.