Hardly Ordinary

Charles Schmuck ’69 saw a problem and did something about it.

KPIX, the CBS affiliate in the Bay Area, recognized Charles Schmuck ’69 with a local Jefferson Award, given to “ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition.”

After 30 years in advertising, Schmuck decided to go back to teaching. But after several years he realized that many minority students didn’t have money for college, and even when they did, very few finished. So in 2005 he launched the Peninsula College Fund to help first-generation college students.

Working with nine peninsula high schools, the fund provides a qualifying student with a $3,000-a-year scholarship, summer job placement, internships, and mentoring. During its first year the fund supported three students. Today 74 participants are enrolled at colleges across the country, and 51 have graduated.

post-image Courtesy of Jefferson Awards Foundation
The OG Green

SCU Men’s golf fans set foot on the holy land of golf this summer capping off a trip of a lifetime.

Music Above All

Erin Pearson ’05 was recruited to play soccer for Santa Clara University. But her passion for music was pulling her in a different direction.

A Number’s Worth

Chuck Cantoni ’57 may be the oldest person to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco—all to raise money for research into a potentially deadly brain condition.

Collaboration is Key

Jacqueline Whitham ’21 chose to support cross-disciplinary collaboration and research at SCU through $3.8 million from her family’s foundation.