Demakes Legacy Scholarship Program Welcomes a New Class

A key signal that UC is steadily raising the bar on academic excellence — and clearing it — is the rapid growth of the UC Alumni Association’s Demakes Legacy Scholarship Program.

Now in its fifth year, the program makes scholarship awards to children and grandchildren of UC alumni who are Alumni Association members. The program is named in honor of former UCAA Executive Director Chris Demakes.

Awards were made in late April to high school students who will enter UC this fall. More than 150 applicants vied for the scholarships, a 61% increase over 2003, and 41 were selected, up 21%. Scholarships are for each student’s first year only; however, as UC students, they can reapply for UCAA scholarships annually.

"What jumped out at members of the Scholarship Committee were the tremendous academic profiles and achievements of the applicant pool overall, and the recipients in particular,” said UCAA Program Manager Phillip Lanham, who works closely with the volunteers overseeing the program. “These are extremely impressive new students coming to UC, and the entire university community will benefit.”

The students who were selected represent seven different UC colleges, and they carry an average high school GPA of 3.85, a score of 1267 on the SAT, a 28 on the ACT, and rank in the top 10% of their graduating class.