A hum of anticipation filled McCamish Pavilion as more than 150 attendees turned their attention to the arena floor, not for a basketball game, but to hear about the impact of scholarships at Georgia Tech. On April 5, Georgia Tech hosted the second annual Scholarship Brunch, an event that brings scholarship recipients together with their benefactors to celebrate the potential unleashed when talent meets opportunity. Rick Clark, Georgia Tech’s executive director of Strategic Student Success, served as master of ceremonies, and he opened by highlighting why scholarship assistance is so vital to attracting top talent from Georgia and beyond. “One thing we’ve found to be clear is that admissions without affordability is not access,” he said.
Clark was followed by Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera, who recounted how a scholarship made it possible for him, “a middleclass kid from Madrid, Spain,” to come to Georgia Tech, earn his doctorate, and later return to serve as president. Like Clark, he underscored the urgency of making Tech affordable for top talent. “If we want to have the very best, smartest, kindest, most dedicated people” working to solve the world’s most pressing challenges, “we have to find them when they’re young and invest in them.”
Next, three current scholarship recipients and an alumna donor spoke. Fourth-year computer engineering student and Virginia native Elisa Miller recalled how scholarship support led her to Georgia Tech and how her education has positioned her for future success. While at Tech, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) awarded Miller a Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in cybersecurity, with a DOD job awaiting her upon graduation. She offered advice to current and future Tech students, urging them to “seize every opportunity you are given to tackle every challenge you face.”
JahWill Fannings, a fourth-year business administration student from West Point, Georgia, described how his scholarship validated a bet he placed on himself in high school: He would apply only to Georgia Tech, and if admitted, he would only attend if he could do so without incurring debt. Thanks to a G. Wayne Clough Tech Promise Scholarship, that bet paid off. Freed from financial burdens, Fannings was able to launch his second company, Flowst8, an AI-powered workflow tool for musicians and other creatives. He credits the network of students, mentors, and industry leaders he was able to connect with as key to his upward trajectory. “Georgia Tech is more than a school,” he said. “It’s an ecosystem designed to help us all build toward success.”
Tampa, Florida, native Sofia Mesa, a first-year civil engineering student and recipient of the Godbold Family Foundation Scholarship, spoke of her desire to attend the Institute from a young age. When family road trips took her family through Atlanta, she would plead with her parents to stop and visit Tech Tower and the Kessler Campanile. What most excites her about the future, Mesa said, is what a Georgia Tech diploma signifies. “It’s more than just a piece of paper. It’s a statement that says, ‘I endured, I grew, and bring it on, because I am ready for whatever you can throw at me.’”
Closing out the program was Ronda Sides, IE 1983, who, along with her husband Alan Sides, ME 1983, endowed her first scholarship in 1999. Sides described her family’s return to Georgia after 18 years abroad. Witnessing firsthand the transformation the Institute had undergone inspired them to give back. Fittingly, after hearing from students about what they gain from scholarships, Sides related the impact of giving on donors. “Students, I know how good it feels when you look into your accounts and you see the money that has flowed in,” she said. “We as donors look into our accounts, and we see the money that flowed out and was sent to you — and it’s an exponentially better feeling.”
Plans are underway for next year’s Scholarship Brunch, which will once again celebrate remarkable talent and extraordinary generosity. Business administration student JahWill Fannings 16 “Georgia Tech is more than a school. It’s an ecosystem designed to help us all build toward su
