{"id":138019,"date":"2026-01-26T01:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T01:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/138019\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T01:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T01:03:08","slug":"ollu-hits-2-million-scholarship-milestone-sets-sights-on-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/138019\/","title":{"rendered":"OLLU hits $2 million scholarship milestone, sets sights on more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our Lady of the Lake University held a small celebration to announce a successful scholarship fund campaign that yielded $2 million, a goal they met about five months ahead of schedule and one they now hope to double in the extra time they\u2019ve gained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In June 2025, university leaders set out to reach a $2 million goal for the Sisters of Divine Providence Scholarship Fund, which offers scholarships for students in financial need to cover the cost of their education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cReaching this very important $2 million milestone tells me and it shows me, it is a confirmation that we are on the right path,\u201d OLLU President Abel Antonio Ch\u00e1vez said during the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow [the board of trustees has] challenged me, they have challenged us, with doubling that goal. An additional $2 million dollars by the end of the fiscal year which ends at the end of May,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2025 the Trump administration halted the disbursement of about $350 million in competitive grants intended to support minority serving institutions, including those federally designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions citing that the enrollment threshold needed to qualify as such \u2014 25% Latino or Hispanic enrollment \u2014 is unconstitutional.<\/a><\/p>\n

Under this designation colleges could then compete for funding intended to serve their entire student body, not only those who identify as Latino or Hispanic \u2014 a widespread misconception according to local college officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OLLU lost about $5 million in discontinued grants that would have supported students over the next few years, said Steve O\u2019Donnell, chairman of the OLLU board of trustees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2025, university officials decided to cut about 16 academic programs<\/a> after a two-year assessment of the viability of under-enrolled programs, which also resulted in the loss of faculty members. This was a very hard decision, O\u2019Donnell said, but one that was necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile these changes create financial strain, our response is rooted in hope,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cThe need for fundraising and in particular fundraising for scholarships, has never been more important than it is now, especially for the students that we serve, most of which are first in their families to go to college.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the first $2 million raised, officials hope they can fund at least 150 scholarships \u2014 based on their average amount awarded per academic year. The goal now is to double that amount ahead of the 2026-25 academic year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scholarship was not just financial support. It was a key. One that unlocked education, mentorship, community, faith, and purpose,\u201d said Katherine Delgadillo, a senior in OLLU\u2019s kinesiology program who plans to soon transfer to University of Texas Health San Antonio to pursue a graduate degree.<\/p>\n

Delgadillo, 19, spoke at the celebration about the impact of having the financial support through the scholarship to attend and remain in college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor students like me, students who grew up watching college only in movies, not in real life,\u201d Delgadillo said. \u201cThese scholarships turn what once felt impossible into something attainable. In many communities, higher education is not the norm.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our Lady of the Lake University held a small celebration to announce a successful scholarship fund campaign that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[58456,19034,58457,58458,82,84,83,58459],"class_list":{"0":"post-138019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-abel-antonio-chavez","9":"tag-hispanic-serving-institutions","10":"tag-minority-serving-institutions","11":"tag-our-lady-of-the-lake-university","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","14":"tag-san-antonio-news","15":"tag-sisters-of-divine-providence-scholarship-fund"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}