New York Life pledges $450,000 for ASRA, RAHI

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: 907-474-7902
03/09/09

Photo by Sam Chanar

Katya Wassillie, left, of White Mountain and Tara Schmidt, of Nome, dance at one of the Rural Alaska Honors Institute’s celebrations during the summer of 2007.

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Photo caption below.

Photo courtesy of ASRA

Paige Steiner, 17, a senior at West Valley High School in Fairbanks, participated in the Alaska Summer Research Academy’s Marine Biology module in July 2008 and got hands-on familiarity with creatures like the sea star.

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A three-year $450,000 donation from New York Life will support the Alaska Summer Research Academy and the Rural Alaska Honors Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Both programs are geared for Alaska high school students. Introduced in 2001, ASRA provides an intensive, two-week residential learning experience for middle and high school students with an interest in science, engineering or liberal arts. RAHI is a bridging program that helps ease the academic and social transition between high school and college. RAHI students live on the Fairbanks campus for six weeks in the summer, taking courses and experiencing life in a college setting while earning between 7 and 10 college credits for their work.

"One of the truly splendid things about this gift from New York Life is that it will enable RAHI and ASRA to extend and combine our recruitment efforts into more rural Alaska villages, as well as provide additional support to bring more students to UAF from those villages to participate in our programs," said Jeff Drake, ASRA director.

The donation will also support an internship for one RAHI graduate each year and multiple scholarships for ASRA or RAHI graduates who attend UAF in the fall following their summer experience.

"With the addition of the speaker support to bring three outstanding RAHI alumni back to attend the annual RAHI Reunion, you can understand why this gift from New York Life is an inspiring and remarkable opportunity," said Denise Wartes, RAHI director.

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world.

CONTACT: Denise Wartes, RAHI director, at 907-474-6886 or fnmdw@uaf.edu. Jeff Drake, ASRA director, at 907-474-7077 or jdrake@gi.alaska.edu. Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian.grimes@uaf.edu.

ON THE WEB:
ASRA Web site
RAHI Web site

MG/3-9-09/118-09