Hotel Trades Council Division ‘A’ Scholarship Awards Announced

Here are the 2013 Hotel Trades Council Division A scholarship and renewal winners, seen here with Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward, Local 6 Secretary-Treasurer Vanessa Meade, Vice Presidents Steve Miller, Eddie Cedeno and Harry Rigor, and Business Agents Randy Sullivan, Dorota Lesniak, and Billy St. Pierre.

There was a lot of parental pride on display this week as 13 children of Hotel Trades Council Division A members received scholarships and 13 previous Division A scholarship winners received renewals. The 26 students received $58,500 in total grants. The awards were presented by Peter Ward and other Union officers.

As we have reported in Hotel Voice in the past, children of Hotel Trades Council members employed in Division A hotels are eligible for a scholarship program that is separate from the Vito J. Pitta scholarship program that covers the children of the majority of Hotel Trades Council members. The separation of Division A from the rest of the Hotel Trades Council is due to the fact that Division A hotels have a separate contract with the Union. Here is how that happened: Prior to 2006, Division A employees were not members of the Hotel Trades Council. Instead, they were members of Local 758 (formerly Local 144).

In 2006 Local 758 merged into Local 6 and the following year, 2007, the former Local 758 employees who were employed in Division A hotels voted to transfer their membership to the Hotel Trades Council. It is children of members employed in Division A hotels (former Local 758 shops) that are eligible for the Hotel Trades Council Division A scholarship program.

Although Division A members comprise a much smaller percentage of the Hotel Trades Council’s membership than their counterparts in other hotels, their scholarship program is no less generous. With this year’s grants, a total of $149,000 in awards have been made in the last three years alone in Division A!

“I want to congratulate all the students who have won these scholarships,” Peter Ward said at the awards ceremony, “but I want to especially congratulate all the parents.”

Ward explained that the Union’s scholarship programs grew out of an idea by his predecessor, Vito J. Pitta, who was an immigrant who had never had the opportunity to go to college. He said Pitta believed that if given the same educational opportunities as others, immigrants and children of immigrants could succeed greatly both academically and in their chosen careers.

“That’s why the idea of scholarships was so important to Vito Pitta,” Ward said, adding, “I’m sure you will prove Mr. Pitta to be right in this belief.”

Ward also spoke about the pressing issues that this generation will face in the years ahead. “You are a generation that faces enormous challenges,” he said. “There’s health care, income inequality, and other complicated matters, and you are also the ones who will determine the answer to an exceedingly important question: What kind of country do we want to be?”

Ward concluded by expressing confidence in the students’ abilities to stand up to these challenges. “The fact that you have won these awards shows us your intelligence and your skills and talents. I am certain you will be equally successful in the years ahead.”

The eligibility requirements for Division A scholarships are similar to those for the larger Vito J. Pitta scholarship program. In addition to being children of Hotel Trades Council members employed in Division A hotels, eligible students must be either graduating high school seniors who will be attending an accredited four-year college or university or previous Division A scholarship winners who have maintained a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better over the last year.

This year there were 13 new scholarship recipients. Each of these first-time winners received $2,500, for a total of $32,250 in first-time awards. In addition, 13 previous Division A scholarship winners kept their GPA above 3.0 in the last year and were thus awarded renewal scholarships of $2,000 each for 2013. This is strong evidence that the renewal program has proved to be an excellent incentive for Division A scholarship winners to do well in school.

When combined with the 13 new scholarship winners who received $2,500 each, the 13 renewal awards of $2,000 each led to a total of $58,500 in grants in 2013 for the Division A scholarship program.

The 13 recipients of 2013 Division A renewal grants are Isabella Bonhomme, Quatiasha Morris, Tasfia Showkat, Niurka Liranzo, Victoria Li, Eugene Li, Sara Isakharov, Zainab Baig, Sonam Chodon, Isabella Skomial, Anna Sadowski, Kevin Motta, and Robin Boodhan. We should add that Eugene Li, Isabella Skomial, Sara Isakharov, and Anna Sadowski are previous renewal recipients.

The winners of new Division A scholarships in 2013 are Shadman Saquib, Mosammat Ayshia Ali, Michael Polovina, Nathalie Chiriboga, Tazin Ahmed, Kris Gopaul, Daiana Gomez, Carney Zeng, Monika Saczyk, Michael Deng, Tsering Yangzom, Nil Patel and Bahar Jasaroska.

Information on applying for next year’s Division A scholarships and renewals will be published next February and March in Hotel Voice. Parents are also urged to watch for periodic information in Hotel Voice about financing your children’s college education, including other scholarships that are available, the Union Plus website’s education section, government education loans and other forms of financial assistance.

Peter Ward speaking with 2013 Division A scholarship winners and renewal recipients and their parents.

Local 6 Secretary-Treasurer Vanessa Meade with 2013 Division A renewal winner Isabelle Bonhomme and her mom. Isabelle attends SUNY New Paltz.

Local 6 Vice President Steve Miller with 2013 Division A renewal winner Eugene Li and his mom, Jin Ye Huang. Eugene is a repeat renewal recipient!