Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.15.2006
Fifty University of Arizona students are able to breathe easier for another year with some help from a local group of businessmen that has been giving out $1,000 scholarships for more than 40 years.
The group, called HABBJACH, for the first initial of the eight men who founded it, was formed in the early 1960s to encourage Tucson high school students to remain here for college.
The founders were Harry Horwitz, Alex Baum, Bob Brickman, Ben Shein, Jack
Nevins, Al Michaels, Charles Gordon and Harry Cohen.
The latest round of students was honored last Wednesday at a luncheon at the UA, where university President Robert Shelton gave a short speech.
"I don't have enough superlatives to thank you," he said to the HABBJACH members who were present. "We really want every outstanding student in Tucson to come here, and that's what you're doing for us."
Scholarship recipients are determined by student need, extracurricular activities and grades. Each scholarship is renewable for up to five years if the student maintains a 3.5 grade-point average, said attorney Charles Whitehill, who joined HABBJACH as its youngest member about 25 years ago and now heads the organization.
About a quarter of the scholarships are given to students in the College of Nursing, and the whole program takes in around 14 new recipients each year, said Whitehill, 76. The group has given more than $2 million in scholarships over the years.
Bethany Palosaari, 21, a nursing senior who is putting herself through school, said having support from HABBJACH for the last few years has allowed her to focus on her studies. She ran directly to the luncheon from her clinicals session, she said.
"I work less (at a job) because I get a scholarship," she said. "It would be really hard for me to go to school without the help of the scholarship."
Diana Hentel, who with her husband, retired Judge Nat Hentel, has sponsored HABBJACH scholarships since moving here 12 years ago, said she feels lucky that the couple were able to send their own children through college, but more people seem to need help now.
Hentel said she has always liked helping people who need help.
University
- Shelley Shelton
