Lambda Scholars Reception 2015

Lambda Alumni Association Celebrates New Student Scholars

November 10, 2015

Today the UCLA Lambda Alumni Association hosted the first annual reception to honor Lambda Alumni Scholarship recipients at the James West Alumni Center - celebrating our achievements as an organization and welcoming our newest scholar, James Cabrera, to the Lambda family.

Over 40 members of the UCLA Lambda Alumni community took the opportunity to meet Lambda Alumni scholars current and past. Students, staff, board members, volunteers, and alumni mingled with scholarship recipients spanning 24 years of awards.

Corinne Lightweaver ('85), UCLA Lambda Alumni Association’s first female co-chair, introduced Pei Chang ('93) a Lambda Alumni Scholarship in 1992, making him among the second group of recipients. Chang, a Pasadena realtor and past president of UCLA Rose Bowl Bruins, discussed his experiences of being an openly gay Bruin on campus in the nineties while also being a member of the UCLA Homecoming Court.

Windee Patterson ('14), another Lambda Scholar, also spoke. While attending UCLA, Patterson earned a B.A. in Gender Studies and currently works in the office of the City Attorney, Los Angeles. She spoke movingly to the audience - that included Patterson's eight-year-old daughter - about the importance of the scholarship and the support she received.

Sophomore John Yang, a current Lambda Alumni Scholar, delivered a moving poem about his experience as an LGBTQ young person of color. Yang, who is from Wisconsin, is an Assistant Budget Review Director for UCLA’s Undergraduate Association Council and helped plan the USAC Community Programs Office LGBTQ Retreat this year.

The most recent Lambda Alumni Scholar, James Cabrera, thanked the group for support of students past and present. Since the tenth grade, Cabrera knew that UCLA was his top choice university. As the first person in his family to go to college, he spoke of how the scholarship is a vital support for him. A first-year biology major from the Inland Empire, Cabrera aspires to be a pharmacist or a genetic counselor.

Beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year, students who receive Lambda Alumni Scholarships automatically become members of the Alumni Scholars Club (ASC). Under the umbrella of the UCLA Alumni Association, ASC functions like a student club with additional substantive professional development opportunities - including general quarterly meetings, alumni mentorship, community and UCLA service projects, mixers and social activities, career and leadership workshops, and networking opportunities with alumni.

In addition to becoming a UCLA Alumni Scholar, current Lambda Alumni Scholars receive $4,000 for four years they attend UCLA ($1,000 annually)  The UCLA Lambda Alumni Association is now on a par with other UCLA Alumni groups that award scholarships, and increasing the value of the Scholarship for each year's recipients.

Chang was so impressed with the new scholarship program that he upgraded his current UCLA Alumni membership from Life Member to the new Gold Tier. The $600 cost of this upgrade will directly support the UCLA Lambda Scholarship program.

Steven Llanusa, Director of the UCLA Lambda Alumni Scholarships & Fundraising Committee, discussed the upgrade with Chang. "As a previous scholarship recipient, I feel the need to ‘pay it forward’ now that I have the ability," Chang explained. "The money goes to specifically support the LGBTQ scholarship. Plus, I now get the perks from the UCLA Alumni Association at the Gold Level."

Most importantly, Chang added, "The stories of the students themselves who received the scholarships were very inspiring.”

To view photos from the event click here.

To find out more about how to support current and future UCLA Lambda Alumni Scholars, click here.