University of New England

UNE student awarded 4-year scholarship from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

University of New England freshman Josie Raphaelito, an athletic training education major from Pine Hill, New Mexico, has been selected as a Gates Millennium Scholar. She is the third person in her family - and the first UNE student - to receive the award, which will cover all her unmet financial aid needs for four academic years.

The Scholars program is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Established in 1999, the foundation provides financial support for minority students in both undergraduate and graduate education.
 
Raphaelito is half Native American (her father is a full-blooded Navaho). She applied for the Gates scholarship as a senior in high school after both her older sister attending Brown University and her older  brother attending Front Range Community College received similar Gates Foundation awards.

Raphaelito’s longtime interest in varsity sports (she ran track and played basketball and volleyball in high school) and physical therapy led to her decision to pursue a degree in athletic training. Research led her to UNE; she was attracted by the school’s academic program, small size and coastal Maine location. She now plays volleyball on UNE’s varsity team.

Ultimately she would like to find a job with the NFL. Her long-range plan is to return to her community in New Mexico after she is well experienced and help establish an athletic training program at her former high school.  (More information on Josie Raphaelito)
 
The goal of the Gates Millennium Scholars is to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for thousands of outstanding students with significant financial needs to reach their fullest potential. Eligible students must be African American, American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asian Pacific Islander American or Hispanic Americans.

More information on UNE's Athletic Training Education Program.

(Press release issued Dec. 13, 2005)