On Tuesday, November 29, 2022, AT&T officials paid a visit to Hale Hall to meet with students from the Dr. James L. Moore III Scholars Program (JLM3) and present a check providing additional funding for the pipeline program.
The $40,000 check supported scholarships for JLM3 Scholars for this academic year as well as last year. “This is the best part of this job,” said Molly Kocour Boyle, president of AT&T Ohio, who attended the meeting to learn more about the staff and students within the program and what it means to them.
“I'm the first (in my family) to make it this far,” said Michael Guzman-Martinez, a third-year finance student. "And so after college, I really want to help more with the Hispanic community; teach them how to invest and build up generational wealth.”
The JLM3 Scholars Program was developed in 2019 to serve as a pipeline for students transferring into The Ohio State University from Columbus State Community College. The program is designed to provide transitional support to students from all backgrounds and walks of life, with a focus on study skills, leadership skill building, and professional development. Currently, the program supports approximately 50 scholars per year.
The scholarship dollars from AT&T will help defray the cost of attending Ohio State for some of the JLM3 Scholars, a critical lifeline for transfer students who otherwise might be forced to take out loans to covert those costs.
“It's very important for the scholars to be able to have additional financial support, since transfer students don't often have additional aid offered to them," said Chaka Wilson, program manager for the JLM3 Scholar Program. "The scholarship allows them to focus more on school and less on work. It'll make life a little easier for them to be students, be successful, and graduate.”