Skagit Valley College, Washington State University, Western Washington University, Central Washington University, and Eastern Washington University awarded more than $247,000 in student scholarships to young multicultural leaders attending high schools throughout Skagit, Island, and San Juan counties March 6 at the annual Champions of Diversity awards ceremony.

The celebration was held at McIntyre Hall on SVC’s Mount Vernon campus. The evening honored   students, many of whom are the first in their family to attend college.

Scholarship recipients included:

Skagit Valley College: Elizabeth Merrill, Hilda Silva-Ventura, Kathryn Beyer, Gabrielle Pacquette, Xochiquetzaly Martinez-Velazco, Sebastian Gonzalez Bazante, Lilianna Rocha, Karla Guevara Barajas, Kameron Deaton, Alessandra Tapia

Washington State University: Lauryn Lopez, Isaiah Rodriguez Jimenez, Jose Miguel-Portillo, Nina Horan, and Katherin Mejia-Salazar

Western Washington University: Savannah De La Rosa, Karla Guzman, Cruz Trevithick, Diego Rodriguez, Dung Huynh, Ana Riefkohl, Miriam Alexa Garcia Jimenez, Daisy Cano Gomez, Anastasiya Zakhlyustina, Jasmine Sargent, Aileen Kim, and Miriam Garcia Gutierrez

Central Washington University: Allana Manrique Sinlao, Jameer Hoya, Juliana Fonseca, Esmeralda Partida Galindo, and Ashley Cothren

Eastern Washington University: Luis Ernesto Camarena, Itzel Arely Espinoza, Karla Vanessa Estevez-Solano, Anicia Corey, and America Nunez

In addition, 10th and 11th grade students were given a Champions of Diversity Award which included an opportunity to apply for a scholarship to attend a Youth Leadership Adventures (YLA) program of their choice during the summer of 2024.

Champion of Diversity YLA award recipients:

Kaycie Knight, Colton Hong, Mia Tran, Alicia Ayala, Hermenegildo Hernandez, Miles Medcalf, Samuel Solano, Sylina De Rosales-Ortiz, April Mejia, Hannah Dominguez Gama, Diana Soriano, Destiny Bolivar, Andrea Lopez, Sienna Mangle, Alondra Garcia, Liliana Sosa Lopez, Marisa Mendoza-Feliciano, Carlos Barajas, Eliza Diaz, Morgan Partridge, Guilherme Nobrega, Marciana Venegas, Lixin Lin, Valerie Gerdes, Mattie Jones, Calum Mannion, Ismael Merino Tenorio, and Daniel Lopez Ruiz

The Champions of Diversity awards ceremony celebrates the accomplishments of young multicultural leaders in our communities and honors them with scholarships ranging from $3,000-$10,000 from SVC and most of Washington’s public universities.

SVC Champions of Diversity scholarship sponsors include: North Coast Credit Union, SVC Board of Trustees, SVC Foundation, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, as well as many generous SVC employee and community donors.

“These students are doing amazing work to make their schools and communities more equitable and inclusive for all; they are agents of change that will make the world a better place,” said Rick Flores, SVC director of student equity and inclusion. “As a man of color and a first-generation college graduate, I am so proud to see so many institutions of higher education and donors come together to provide access to affordable and quality post-secondary education for local students.”

To learn more about champions of diversity, contact Flores at [email protected].