AT&T awards $1.5 million to MESA

AT&T has awarded MESA $1.5 million over three years to establish pre-college centers in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, implement teacher professional development activities and establish a scholarship in honor of a late AT&T engineer who was a former MESA student.

The two new centers will help improve the academic performance and college readiness of educationally disadvantaged students through intensive, hands-on curricula and academic support network. MESA will begin discussions with potential higher education partners in the San Diego and San Francisco Bay Area with a targeted start date of fall 2007 for the new centers.

“The MESA program has a proven success rate of providing important tools through its programs nationwide,” said Yno Gonzalez, President, AT&T Data and Network Services and member of the MESA Board of Directors. “Through MESA, hundreds of students obtain a strong foundation in the fields of science, math and engineering which is a great catalyst for success in any career. Supporting the growth of MESA is just one way AT&T shows its dedication to enriching the lives of others, especially young people who are on target for educational achievement.”

“The gift from AT&T is a tremendous augmentation to the core funding we receive from the state,” said MESA Executive Director Michael Aldaco. “AT&T’s contribution will help develop the college potential of thousands of students in the Bay Area and San Diego. These students have the potential to become the engineers and scientists that our country needs to stay competitive. They just need a chance to succeed. AT&T provides them with that chance.”

The possibility of opening at MESA center in the Bay Area drew an enthusiastic response from Senate Pro Tem Don Perata. "The MESA program does a terrific job of providing students with critical educational support in key technology areas and the new center that will be opening here in the Bay Area will only further MESA's mission of helping more area students graduate in technology disciplines,"  he said.

The AT&T grant also establishes the Dulce Medina Scholarship at CSU Los Angeles, named after an AT&T electrical engineer and active CSU Los Angeles MESA alum who passed away in 2005. The scholarship will award $5,000 for three years to a MESA high school graduate who will be attending the CSU Los Angeles College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology. The MESA center at CSU Los Angeles will be renamed to honor Medina.

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