New University of Hartford President Lawrence P. Ward offered words of encouragement to more than 100 students who are preparing to embark on their college journey. President Ward gave the welcome address recently at the annual Hartford Promise Scholars Day, held on the UHart campus.
“Each of you is a fire,” President Ward told the students, “and we need you for all the communal benefits of fire. You will bring warmth and a sense of community when it feels cold and lonely. Your fire will help provide light to others to guide their way. You will bring strength and resiliency as it is hardened by fire. So, I say to you all today, do not make yourselves smaller on a college campus. Your presence on a college campus will be a gift to those campuses.”
All Hartford Public Schools students are eligible for the program if they live in Hartford, attend a public high school for all four years of their high school career, maintain a 93 percent attendance rate, and earn at least a 3.0 GPA. They receive scholarships of up to $5,000 for all four of their undergraduate years, no matter what college or university they attend.
Lawrence P. Ward, University of Hartford President“Each of you is a fire, and we need you for all the communal benefits of fire. You will bring warmth and a sense of community when it feels cold and lonely. Your fire will help provide light to others to guide their way. You will bring strength and resiliency as it is hardened by fire. So, I say to you all today, do not make yourselves smaller on a college campus. Your presence on a college campus will be a gift to those campuses.”
Other speakers during the day included Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal and Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. In a lunchtime address, the mayor thanked the students for “being a family to each other.” He added, “We can’t wait to see where your lives go.”
During the day, the students participated in small-group workshops, attended panel discussions, and competed in a “Hartford Promise Olympics.”
A record 21 Hartford Promise Scholars are set to enter UHart in the fall. And as President Ward lightheartedly told the students, “Those of you who decided, ‘Hey, I’m going to another college,’ but after having been here for a couple of hours, you want to come to the University of Hartford – we’ll make that happen.”