Northwest University Blog

Northwest University Awards 8 Act Six Scholarships

The Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative has announced that 34 emerging urban leaders across the Puget Sound region and in Spokane will receive full-tuition, full-need scholarships for study beginning this fall. Eight scholarships have been awarded for study at Northwest University in Kirkland, with others for study at Whitworth University, Pacific Lutheran University, and Gonzaga University. Collectively, the scholarships will provide nearly $5 million in financial aid over four years.

The newest Act Six scholars will be recognized in community celebrations in Spokane, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at Lewis and Clark High School, and in Tacoma at 7 p.m.  Thursday, Feb. 11, at Mount Tahoma High School. 

Launched in 2002 by the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF) in Tacoma, Act Six seeks to develop urban leaders to be agents of transformation on campus and in their home communities.  Since the program’s inception, 12 cadres of ethnically diverse and mostly first-generation, low-income Act Six scholars from urban Tacoma and Seattle have enrolled at five Washington colleges. 

Act Six develops leaders through a simple but powerful four-step strategy:

• Recruit and select diverse, multicultural cadres of Washington’s most promising emerging urban leaders.
• Train and prepare these groups of students in the year prior to college, equipping them to support each other, succeed academically, and grow as service-minded leaders and agents of transformation.
• Send and fund the teams together to select faith-based colleges in Washington on four year, full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
• Support and inspire by providing strong campus support and ongoing leadership development to nurture these young people as they find their vocation and grow into the next generation of community leaders.

To date, 94 percent of the scholars in the first two cadres have graduated. Overall, 92% percent of the 107 scholars originally selected for the program have graduated or are still enrolled –reflecting graduation and retention rates that far exceed national averages. Act Six scholars have been elected student-body presidents two of the past four years at Whitworth and have been involved in numerous other leadership roles on and off campus.

“Our scholars are having a profound impact through their leadership on campus, and as they begin to graduate we look forward to their impact in the community,”  says Tim Herron, founder and national director of Act Six. “This is what we envisioned when we launched Act Six and what we are now seeing replicated around the state and nation.”

Nationally, Act Six initiatives are also active at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., and Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore.

The following is a list of the second cadre of Act Six recipients at Northwest University:

Northwest University (Cadre Two)
Christian Dawson, Christian Faith High School
Martese Hightower, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Clayton Hines, Washington High School
Justin Mburugu, Curtis High School
McKinzie Quiocho, Life Christian Academy
Illona Trofimovich, Henry Foss High School
Samantha Wallace, Washington High School
Imar White, Bellarmine Preparatory School

Following the award celebrations, scholars will begin an intensive seven-month training program that involves weekly meetings with Act Six staff, retreats, and campus visits.  Northwest University’s scholars are participating in the traditional Direct-Four Year Track and will enroll in fall 2010.

You can learn more about Act Six at www.actsix.org. If you would like more information about Act Six at Northwest University, please contact Rose Smith, assistant vice president for enrollment, at rose.smith@northwestu.edu.

 

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Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 Share on Facebook