H.R. No. 658 R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, The Texas House of Representatives is proud to honor 1-2 Sam Riklin and the Downtown Rotary Club of San Antonio for their 1-3 sponsorship of the Diploma Plus scholarship project, a unique 1-4 program that has proven to be extremely effective in addressing the 1-5 high school dropout rate; and 1-6 WHEREAS, Conceived by Mr. Riklin, the Diploma Plus project 1-7 aims to prevent students who are otherwise succeeding at their 1-8 studies from dropping out of school because of family financial 1-9 hardship; since 1990, this innovative program has provided hundreds 1-10 of San Antonio high school students with the financial assistance 1-11 they required to finish school; and 1-12 WHEREAS, Financially eligible students who have demonstrated 1-13 a commitment to their education may apply for the $500 scholarship 1-14 that is distributed over the course of nine months during the 1-15 students' senior year of high school in increments of $50, with an 1-16 additional payment of $50 made to students following their 1-17 graduation; and 1-18 WHEREAS, The generous support of Downtown Rotary Club 1-19 members, corporate contributors, and Mr. Riklin have enabled 1-20 organizers to meet their original goal of providing 600 senior-year 1-21 scholarships to local high school students during a three-year 1-22 period; because the club and Mr. Riklin absorb all administrative 1-23 costs, 100 percent of each dollar raised goes to these deserving 1-24 students; and 2-1 WHEREAS, Joining in this worthwhile effort is The University 2-2 of Texas at San Antonio, which recently approved 200 fully paid 2-3 freshman year scholarships to college-bound Diploma Plus graduates 2-4 to be awarded over the next three years; and 2-5 WHEREAS, Recognized as the largest anti-dropout program 2-6 sponsored by a civic club in America, Diploma Plus has received 2-7 praise from many prominent local and national leaders, including 2-8 Governor Ann Richards and President George Bush; and 2-9 WHEREAS, The many sponsors of this excellent scholarship 2-10 program have certainly benefitted their community and our state by 2-11 helping high school students stay in school, and their outstanding 2-12 efforts in this regard are indeed deserving of special legislative 2-13 recognition; now, therefore, be it 2-14 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 73rd Texas 2-15 Legislature hereby commend the Downtown Rotary Club of San Antonio, 2-16 Sam Riklin, and the corporate contributors to Diploma Plus, for 2-17 their sponsorship of this excellent program; and, be it further 2-18 RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared 2-19 for the sponsors of Diploma Plus as an expression of high regard by 2-20 the Texas House of Representatives. 2-21 the Texas House of Representatives. 2-22 Van de Putte 2-23 H.R. No. 658 2-24 _______________________________ 2-25 Speaker of the House 2-26 I certify that H.R. No. 658 was adopted by the House on May 2-27 7, 1993, by a non-record vote. 3-1 _______________________________ 3-2 Chief Clerk of the House