Crafton Hills College celebrates scholarship recipients, donors at annual reception

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It’s not everyday Crafton Hills College students get to meet those who helped fund their Crafton journey. But once a year, just before the start of a new school year, the College hosts a Scholarship Reception where Roadrunners can thank their donors in person.

This year’s reception, on Aug. 8, took over Crafton Center, where dozens of thank you’s and lively hello’s filled the space for a late morning of celebration and recognition.

“We know you had to take time out of your work and school schedules and personal lives to be here, and that means a lot to us,” said Michelle Riggs, Crafton’s director of institutional advancement at the start of the event. “We’re all so proud of you.”

Riggs knows first-hand the impact of a scholarships on a student, having been a recipient herself of the Re-entering Students Scholarship during her time as a student at Crafton. Today, she works with the Crafton Hills College Foundation to establish scholarship opportunities for those students at the Yucaipa-based college campus who need a financial boost.

The Foundation awarded more than $253,000 in scholarships to Roadrunners during the 2023-2024 academic year, varying in amounts and purposes such as the Dr. Carla Thornton Scholarship, which became fully endowed for the first time this year thanks to the generosity of Dwight Tate and Kathy Wright. An endowed scholarship is a financial fund that supports college or university students in perpetuity.

Tate and Wright were invited to speak about their friend, Dr. Thornton, an advocate of student success and the founder of Crafton’s Veterans Center as well as a retired Air Force master sergeant. The scholarship was created after Thornton’s death in 2021 at the age of 42.

“The saddest part of this day is that you don’t get to meet Carla, mainly because if you met her, you became friends with her and also immediately became part of her family,” Tate recalled. “Her light was extinguished far too soon.”

Sabrina Salazar was named this year’s Dr. Carla Thornton Scholarship recipient of the Thornton Scholarship, which she’ll use to continue her studies at neighboring University of California, Riverside. The single mom of six lives in Moreno Valley, the same city Dr. Thornton called home and where she served on its city council from 2018 until her passing.

Salazar said she will continue to hold Crafton close to her heart, recalling her myriad accomplishments, including graduating with honors this past spring.

“Attending Crafton Hills College has been a wonderful journey with a supportive community, dedicated professors, and an Honors program that made my time here very special,” she said. “One of the best parts of my experience was being part of such a caring environment, which I will miss a lot.”

Since 1973, the Crafton Hills College Foundation has supported CHC’s campus community by providing funds for students who need help with expenses from fees for testing to emergency car repairs to support for instructional programs.

This year, more than 600 scholarship applications were reviewed by a scholarship committee of volunteers.

To learn more about the Foundation or to contribute, go to www.craftonhills.edu/visitors-and-alumni/giving-to-chc/index.php, or send checks payable to CHC Foundation, 11711 Sand Canyon Road, Yucaipa 92399.