New Scholarship Created for Undocumented Students Honors Retired Faculty Member and Advocate
A new scholarship aimed at helping relieve the financial burden facing undocumented students has been created at Long Beach State University to honor a long-time advocate and recently retired faculty member Norma Stoltz Chinchilla.
With the creation of the Norma Stoltz Chinchilla Scholarship for Undocumented Students, the hope is to reduce barriers to education for undocumented students.
“At Long Beach State we’re devoted to reducing educational barriers for all of our students, especially for those students who face substantial obstacles that could keep them from getting their degree,” said Jane Close Conoley, president of the university. “This scholarship will be instrumental in making the university more financially accessible for our undocumented students.”
Any undocumented LBSU student in any college is eligible to apply for the scholarship once it is fully funded.
“By investing in these students’ success, we are not only helping them reach their highest potential but we are also creating healthier, safer and more vibrant communities,” said Kristine Zentgraf, chairperson of the sociology department. Zentgraf studied under Stoltz Chinchilla as an undergraduate while studying at LBSU.
Stoltz Chinchilla began her career at Cal State Long Beach in 1983 and worked as a faculty member in the departments of sociology and women’s, gender & sexuality studies.
Stoltz Chinchilla continues to serve as an expert witness on conditions in Guatemala for deportation hearings held by the Department of Homeland Security and has worked with the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition and Edwin and Dorothy Baker Foundation. She retired from her position as a faculty member in the spring of 2018 after 35 years on campus.
“I was really surprised and excited,” Stoltz Chinchilla said of the scholarship. “I had to be talked into it at first, but I realized how important it would be for students. Now more than ever we have such talented young people coming to the university and on to masters programs.
“With a little bit of financial support, those students can be successful and take advantage of the opportunities in California and give back to our society as professionals.”
To date, more than $17,000 has been raised toward the newly created scholarship. To contribute, visit https://giveto.csulb.edu/.
###
About the campus: Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.
