Community Connections
Union Bank of California

Union Bank of California Foundation Supports Higher Education

New Grants to United Negro College Fund and Mills College

Perhaps nothing is more vital to the long-term health of our community than easily accessable, high-quality education, and UBOC's commitment in this area remains firm. In 1999, the UBOC Foundation provided over $2 million in grants and in-kind donations to support education on the local, state and national levels, and most recently announced two $45,000 grants, to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and to Mills College, that will be paid out over the next three years.

Scholarship Funding for the United Negro College Fund

The scholarship grant to the UNCF, designed to help African-American students from California attend any of the thirty-nine UNCF-supported colleges and universities, represents the continuation of a seven-year relationship. UNCF Executive Director Jim Mayo points out that UBOC's scholarship aid to his organization helps address a growing need for assistance in California. "Over the past fifteen years, we've had a 162 percent increase in the number of California students enrolling in UNCF schools," he reports. "Overall, more than 90 percent of our students need some level of financial aid."

Sixty percent of UNCF students are the first in their family to go to college. "By supporting these students," Mayo adds, "UBOC is investing in community and affording opportunities to individuals who want to enter professions that require college degrees but need help in doing so."

"UBOC has much to be proud of," notes Mayo. "The Bank has helped strengthen our relationship with the African-American community as a whole. And because of the publicity generated by our association with UBOC, other organizations have made scholarship grants to UNCF. We think of UBOC as a partner."

Indeed, UBOC's relationship with UNCF includes much more than monetary aid. Paulette Williams, Vice President of the bank's Emerging Markets Administration, sits on UNCF's Executive Campaign Advisory Board for Northern California, and UBOC has helped foster community awareness with programs such as the recent campaign offering UBOC contributions to the UNCF on behalf of new checking account customers. Williams made the official presentation of the 1999 grant during UNCF's Evening of the Stars fund-raising telethon in January. "This year," Mayo says, "six to eight million viewers learned firsthand about UBOC's good works."

This latest UNCF donation is in addition to recent local-area grants of $7,200 in San Diego and $2,550 in San Francisco. "The greatest race is the race for the human mind," Mayo observes. "UBOC is saying they are truly in the race."

Grant to Mills College Supports Returning Students

Providing accessible high-quality education to everyone is also the driving force behind the Mills College grant, which will fund scholarships for women aged 23 and older who return to college to complete their academic studies. "Scholarship support for college students has become one of the most critical economic issues facing families and the higher education community," says Mills College President Janet L. Holmgren.

Richard Hartnack, Community Banking Group Vice Chairman agrees, noting, "The bank's donation addresses this issue by helping to offset the often considerable challenges faced by returning students." These students, who comprise 23 percent of Mills' undergraduate population, are often raising children or holding down jobs while attending college full-time. Many will experience a reduction of earning power as they leave employment or reduce their work hours to attain degrees.

"The women the bank is assisting with this donation are among those who are likely to make the most of their academic experience," adds Hartnack. "They bring serious commitment, working-world experience and mature perspective to their studies."

Many returning students find Mills, a prominent women's college, a particularly appropriate place to renew their studies, because they find an atmosphere promoting women's leadership. "As graduates," Hartnack says, "these students will be able to make the greatest possible contribution to a society that is need of universal participation as we face the challenges of the future together."

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