October 5, 2010
Student employees benefit from SAS Grants
Students who work on campus for Student Auxiliary Services do so for many different reasons—some seek work experience, and others use wages as spending money. Still for others, a campus job is how they pay for tuition, books, food, and rent.
It was principally for this latter group that SAS Grants were created more than 20 years ago by full-time employees looking to give back to students in need.
“After all, we wouldn’t have our jobs if not for the students,” says Marie Huffaker, SAS executive secretary and regular donor to the grants.
Since 1987 more than 140 grants totaling more than $185,000 have been awarded to students who work in campus dining, housing, leisure, retail, custodial, or maintenance services or who live in on- campus housing.
This student-focused grant program, which awarded 10 grants this year, is funded by the donations of current full-time SAS employees and retirees as well as other alumni and friends of the university— about 200 people contribute every month.
Giving back is good
Michael E. Nelson, the controller for the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences, used to work in SAS. He generously supports several campus causes, but the donations that please him the most are those to SAS Grants.
“Based on the starfish principle, we make a difference, one student at a time,” Nelson says.
This year’s SAS Grant recipients include Aubrianne Hilton, Liz Ricardo Belliard, Jason Clarke, Jessie Kportufe, and Sera Shin. Each of these students was awarded a half-tuition SAS Grant.
“Receiving the grant has been an answer to prayers,” says Hilton, an elementary education major from Tempe, Arizona, who works in the BYU Bookstore. “When I think of those who gave to help me further my education, I feel a sense of duty and responsibility to give back. Ultimately I want to thank them through the life that I live.”
Liz Ricardo Belliard, a construction management student from the Dominican Republic, works in the university’s paint shop. She says that the grant was a great relief, and it allowed her to focus on her studies. “I will never forget those who saw my need,” she says. “I hope to thank them by donating to BYU like they did. Right now I can’t give much, but I can find a person who needs my help and help them.”
Looking for those in need
Huffaker explains that in order to be considered for the grant, students are required to submit applications with references, endorsements, and essays. The applications are reviewed by a committee of SAS and Residence Life employees (Residence Life used to be part of SAS), who then select and interview finalists. At the end of this annual process the grants are awarded to deserving students.
Hilton says she spent a lot of long nights trying to get her application in on time. “But I loved talking with the interviewers. I felt a sense of responsibility as I talked with them—they represent a group of individuals across campus who give even when it might be a sacrifice for them.”
Student Jason Clarke’s experience differed from Hilton’s. “The interview was intense,” he says. “They asked a lot of questions, including one that I thought would for sure disqualify me: ‘If you don’t get the grant, will you still be able to take classes in the fall?’ I answered truthfully that without the grant I would continue to take classes but that I would also continue to work between 40 and 60 hours at two jobs each week.” Clarke, from Mira Loma, California, is studying economics, and he works 20 hours a week at the Creamery on Ninth.
Offering thanks and brownies
Those who contribute to the grant program and the students who receive the grants are grateful.
Huffaker is honored to help students. “We have helped women and men who had no family support. We have helped students who overcame huge challenges. Their stories are always compelling, often heartbreaking, and ever inspiring.”
Student Jessie Kportufe from Ghana, who hopes to study accounting, says: “Besides saying thanks, I will thank those who helped me by working hard in school and by living the Honor Code. I will contribute to this fund when I have the means so that others will have the opportunity to accomplish their dreams like I’ve been able to accomplish mine.” Kportufe works at MTC Dining and BYU Laundry.
Math education major Sera Shin, who works as a custodian in the Wilkinson Student Center, offers her thanks. “There are no words to adequately describe how thankful I am. I wish I could do something, anything for the people who funded my grant. I wish I could bake them some brownies.
“When I learned that I was one of the recipients of an SAS Grant, I felt pure love, like Heavenly Father’s. Receiving this grant makes me want to study harder and share what I am learning with others,” says Shin, whose family lives in Bellevue, Washington. “Giving back is my only real way of showing thanks to the people who donate.”
