Scholarship Program for Division ‘A’ Hotels Is Accepting Applications

We are happy to announce that the Hotel Trades Council’s Division A college scholarship program is now accepting applications. This program is open to the children of Hotel Trades Council members employed in Division A hotels. These children must be high school seniors who will be attending a four-year college or university in the fall. Previous Division A scholarship winners may also apply for awards that are called renewals.

With two different Hotel Trades Council scholarship programs available to members’ children, it can sometimes be confusing for members to understand the eligibility requirements. But there is a simple explanation. Children of members employed in Division A hotels are eligible for the Division A scholarship program and members employed in most non-Division A hotels in New York City are eligible for Vito J. Pitta scholarship awards.

A list of Division A hotels is provided in below to help members determine whether their children are eligible for Division A scholarships. The best way of all to determine eligibility is to fill out an Eligibility Information Form for the Division A scholarship program, one of which is published in this edition of Hotel Voice.

Members employed in Division A hotels have a different contract than other Hotel Trades Council members in the city. This is because Local 758 merged into Local 6 in 2006 and the following year Local 6 members 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. The renewals that the Division A program grants to previous scholarship winners are based on their maintaining a 3.0 grade point average (GPA). It should also be noted that members employed in Division A hotels are not eligible for the Vito J. Pitta scholarship program.

Although Division A members make up a much smaller percentage of the Hotel Trades Council’s membership than their counterparts in other hotels, their scholarship program is equally generous. In fact, the Division A scholarship program awards significant college grants. As an example, in 2009 the program awarded $32,000 in grants and renewals. In 2010, a total of $31,000 in grants and renewals was awarded. In 2011 there were 16 Division A scholarship recipients, each of whom received awards of $2,500, for a total of $40,000, and seven previous Division A scholarship winners received renewals of $2,000 each. In all, the total amount of new scholarships and renewals in Division A in 2011 amounted to $54,000. More than $36,000 in Division A scholarship awards and renewals were handed out in 2012. Last year, an additional $58,500 in total grants were awarded, as 13 children of Hotel Trades Council Division A members received scholarships of $2,500 each and 13 previous Division A scholarship winners received renewals of $2,000 each.

As we noted earlier, renewals are awarded to Division A scholarship winners if they maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, giving students another reason to work hard at their studies. Previous Division A scholarship winners who think they may qualify for renewals in 2014 should call Division A Benefits Coordinator Jerry Sammartino at 212-492-2136 for instructions on how to apply for one.

To clear up any confusion between the Vito J. Pitta scholarships and the Division A scholarships, here is a list of the Division A hotels: Americana Inn; Avalon Hotel, Bancroft Hotel Condo; Belleclaire Hotel; Best Western Convention Center; Bradford Hotel; Capri Whitestone Hotel; College Residence Club I and II; Deauville Affiliates; Dryden Hotel; Euclid Hall; Excelsior Hall; Fitzpatrick Grand Central; Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel; Franklin Hotel; Herald Square Hotel; Holiday Inn Soho; Hotel Chandler; Mansfield Hotel/Fifth Avenue Hotel; On the Avenue; Parc Coliseum; Holiday Inn LaGuardia: The Roger; Ruxton Hotel; San Carlos Hotel; Sanctuary (Portland Square) Hotel; Stanford Hotel; Shoreham Hotel; Tempo/Aimco; Travel Inn Motor Hotel; Wales Hotel; 1234 Broadway; 6 Columbus.

Again, children of Hotel Trades Council members employed in the above listed Division A shops are eligible for the Division A scholarship program—if they are graduating high school seniors who plan to attend an accredited four-year college or university in the fall of this year (2014); and previous Division A winners are eligible for renewals if they have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or better.

Applying for a Hotel Trades Council Division A scholarship is easy. There is an eligibility information form published on page 3 of this edition of Hotel Voice. Children of Division A members should fill out and mail it to the Union so that they may receive their applications for the scholarship program. Remember, the eligibility information form is NOT an application! It must be filled out and submitted to the Union to receive an application. The deadline for submitting applications to the Hotel Trades Council Division A scholarship program is May 31, 2014.

We wish the best of luck to all those who apply!