College of Saint Mary receives $30,000 from First National Bank of Omaha

College of Saint Mary has been awarded a $30,000 grant from First National Bank of Omaha, which also operates as First National Bank Fremont and First National Bank North Platte.

CSM will use the grant for its Latina and African-American Summer Academies.

“College of Saint Mary is extremely grateful to First National Bank for their support of our summer academies,” says CSM Vice President for Alumnae & Donor Relations Dr. Christine Pharr.

The two academies each provide a week-long residency for Hispanic and African-American high school women. The programs are designed to increase participants’ self-efficacy towards attaining a college degree through hands-on programming and interactions with successful women of color.

“Every summer this immersive, residential college experience provides some 100 young high school women with a sense of what college is like,” says Pharr. Most of the students come from the Omaha Metro area.

“The students live on campus and engage in activities that focus on science, math, art and technology,” she adds. “This encourages them to consider careers in fields in which they are currently under represented.”

The college experience also encourages their belief that attending college is not just a dream, but a real possibility. Gallup research has shown that hope is a better predictor of college enrollment and graduation than ACT scores.

By Chris Kasel, Media Relations Coordinator