Gonzaga Welcomes 8 New Act Six Scholars

Act Six Cadre 13
Act Six Scholars
March 23, 2021
Gonzaga News Service

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga University will welcome eight new Act Six Scholars to the incoming class of 2025. The urban and community leaders from Spokane, and the Tacoma and Seattle, Washington, areas will receive full-tuition, full-need and four-year scholarships as members of the latest Act Six cohort.

Selected through a rigorous three-month competition, these diverse student leaders were chosen for their commitment to serving on campus and in their communities, their passion for learning, eagerness to foster intercultural relationships, and willingness to step out of their comfort zones.

A virtual celebration to recognize the new scholars from Tacoma-Seattle, and Spokane was held on March 11.

Gonzaga University (Cadre 13)

Following are the Act Six recipients who will enroll at Gonzaga this fall:

  • Audriana Alfaro, Lewis and Clark High School (Spokane), human physiology major
  • Yalda Shirzai, North Central High School (Spokane), pre-medicine
  • Amari Troutt, Pride Prep School (Spokane), sports management
  • Odalys Sanchez Cedillo, Harrison Preparatory School (Tacoma-Seattle), business marketing
  • Angeline Elguero-Mateo, Shelton High School (Tacoma-Seattle), communications
  • Antonio Hernandez, Stadium High School (Tacoma-Seattle), nursing
  • Kylie Mizoguchi-Mukai, Sumner High School (Tacoma-Seattle), English and education
  • Essey Paulos, Kentridge Senior High School (Tacoma-Seattle), business.

About Act Six

Act Six seeks to develop urban leaders to be agents of transformation on campus and in their home communities. Since the program’s inception, more than 1,100 ethnically diverse and mostly first-generation, low-income Act Six scholarship recipients from Tacoma, Seattle, Yakima and Spokane, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; and Indianapolis, Indiana, have enrolled at 17 private colleges and universities. 

Act Six develops leaders through a simple but powerful, four-step strategy:

  • Recruit and select diverse, multicultural cadres of the most promising urban and community student leaders.
  • Train and prepare these groups of students in the year prior to college, equipping them to support each other, succeed academically and grow as service-minded leaders and agents of transformation.
  • Send and fund the cadres together to select colleges across Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana on full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
  • Support and inspire by providing strong campus support, ongoing leadership development and vocational connections to inspire scholars to serve their home communities.

Act Six alumni continue their leadership once they step foot into their communities. Eighty-one percent of Act Six scholars earn their bachelor’s degrees within six years or less, more than double the rate for low-income, first-generation students nationwide. More than two-thirds of the program’s graduates are working or serving in their home communities.

The scholars begin an intensive six-month training program that involves weekly meetings with Act Six staff, retreats and campus visits.

For more information, contact Erin Hays, director of admission,  at (509) 313-6507. Learn more about Act Six online.