Community Scholarship Honorees Reunite

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On August 9, four of the five past recipients of the Baha'is of Malibu for Higher Education Scholarship gathered at Malibu Pier with Siugen Constanza of Boys and Girls Club of Malibu (BGCM) and Laila Taslimi to share their news from college and their plans for the coming year. They also spoke about the great interest shown by the current BGCM teens when these alumni return to the Club as visitors or summer interns. These lovely young people recognize the importance of being role models and answering questions about what college is like to the younger ones who look up to them. All scholarship recipients were part of the BGCM’s Goals for Graduation program as first generation college-bound students, and they value the supportive relationships they have with one another and with the Club. Baha'is of Malibu are enthusiastic to continue support of their hard-won efforts to go to college with an annual scholarship as well as an annual reunion and possibly further alumni activities.

The Baha’is of Malibu scholarship has been awarded at the Malibu High School Senior Awards Night each June, since 2012. The scholarship was created in the name of Education Under Fire, a campaign whose goal it is to help mitigate the effects of discriminatory policies in Iran that prevent Baha’i youth from pursuing higher education. The campaign encourages conversations to raise awareness of the importance of defending Article 26 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees education as an inalienable right of every human being. Scholarship applicants are required to respond to a prompt based on their life experience or knowledge gained of others’ experience, how might college education and their life’s work promote human rights, and how they may have already demonstrated a commitment to defend or promote the right or freedom of an individual.

Pictured above:

Photo 1: (left to right) Ingrid Espinoza ('16), Misael Espinoza ('13), Chris Navarro ('12), Alexis Gallegos ('15), Laila Taslimi

Photo 2: This year's recipient Ingrid Espinoza and Diane Samandi.