For me, thelaunch of a new Sony scholarship program at California State University in Long Beach, CA was the culmination of many months of work designing a new corporate sponsored education program. At the same time we wanted this new program to make a statement to the US Higher Education community reinforcing that Sony is sincerely committed as a technology partner and doing our part by providing technology equipment awards, especially during these tough economic times.
However, for this year's Hearst/CSU Trustees' Awardees, Tuesday afternoon was a day that they and I will never forget. Each of these 23 special people have overcome tremendous odds either personally, financially or both to be selected by the presidents of their respective campuses for their personal and academic achievements. They all knew in advance that they were being honored at a meeting of the CSU Board of Trustees. Several were given the opportunity to share their life stories in a few words, and each story was as diverse and moving as the next.
What they and almost all of the 200+ people in attendance in the Dumke Auditorium didn't know, was that Sony Senior Vice President Mike Abary would soon take the podium to make a surprise announcement that Sony was not only the newest Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award sponsor, but that we were also using this opportunity to launch a national scholarship program at 30 universities and community colleges across the US. You can find out more about our new Scholarship program and which campuses are participating at Sony.com/News.
When Mike began his remarks, no one had any idea what was coming next.
After Mike stated "I am pleased to announce that today we are offering each Hearst Scholar Sony equipment award package valued at over $1,200", there were audible gasps from the students and several began to cry. At this same moment, I glanced over at the faces of all the CSU presidents in the room, and they were equally shocked and grateful.
It turns out that our location choice for our national announcement was fitting since it also has a personal connection to both Mike and me. Both of us are CSU alumni.
Lastly, It always feels good to work at Sony, but for me, on Tuesday afternoon, it felt a little bit better