Richmond City Officials Announce $35M Chevron-Funded Scholarship Program

Richmond city officials are taking a $35 million investment from Chevron to launch a scholarship program aimed at sending every eligible local high school student to college, a city councilman said today.

Funding for the “Richmond Promise” program will come from the oil company’s recent agreement with the city to invest $90 million in the community as part of a deal to allow it to complete a modernization project at its Richmond refinery. City Councilman Jael Myrick said the program represents a culture shift for Richmond youth, many of whom, he said, come from lower socio-economic backgrounds and aren’t expected to attend college.

“Growing up in this community I know how easy it is for our young people to give up if they don’t believe their community is invested in them,” Myrick said. The councilman said he has long campaigned for a scholarship program “so every one of our youth will know that financial barriers can no longer limit their ability to build a successful future for themselves.” Myrick said that while the city is working out the details of the program, it plans to partner with a local non-profit to administer the scholarships to seniors graduating from public high schools in Richmond.

Students in the class of 2016 are expected to be the scholarship program’s first recipients, he said. City Councilman Tom Butt said the program is similar to a $50 million scholarship program sponsored by Murphy Oil Corporation in El Dorado, Arkansas. That city saw its rate of college-bound high school seniors jump from 53 percent to 90 percent after the program’s implementation, according to Butt. West Contra Costa Unified School District Board Member Madeline Kronenberg said the program is exciting news for Richmodn families.

“We know that higher education is the key to future success - and the new Richmond Promise program is a major step to increasing opportunities for all our Richmond students,” she said.

—By Bay City News