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Lone Star College Foundation's StarGala raises $412,000 for scholarships

HOUSTON (May 16, 2012) – The Lone Star College Foundation’s StarGala 2012 event raised more than $412,000 to help fund student scholarships and system academic programs.

The gala, with a Kentucky Derby “Run for the Roses” theme, was attended by more than 800 guests and paid tribute to several in the Lone Star College System community – LSCS Board of Trustee Chair Randy Bates, J.D., for his 20 years of service to the college system; and Dr. Joe McMillian, a Lone Star College founding faculty member who is still teaching at LSCS. In addition, Dr. Joe A. Airola, LSCS’s first chancellor, was honored posthumously.

“Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968, once said that community service is just paying your rent for the privilege of living on this earth,’” said Bates as he addressed the StarGala attendees.

“All these years, I’ve just been paying my rent,” he said.

Bates also thanked the LSCS administration and faculty. “We’ve got dedicated, hard-working faculty and we would not be the system that we are today without our fine faculty,” he said.

A highlight of the program was viewing video clips of the evening’s honorees, as well as clips of LSCS student scholarship winners. Videos may be viewed at LoneStar.edu/star-gala

StarGala 2012 was an outstanding success,” said Darcy Mingoia, LSC Foundation executive director.  “For the second year in a row, our Co-Chairs Saul and Lisa Valentin went all out and provided tireless effort and outstanding leadership to make this event a success.”

“We’re definitely hooked on the Lone Star College Foundation,” said Saul Valentin. “It impacts our community in so many positive ways."

The event, held May 5 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott, included dinner and dancing to the music of the 5th Avenue band. StarGala guests were also able to bid on bid-board items, along with silent and live auctions.

New to the gala this year was the Presidential Cake-Off which included the presidents from all six of the Lone Star Colleges going head-to-head in a cake-baking contest to raise money for scholarships on their campuses.  Shah Ardalan, CEO of LSC-University Park, won the cake-off with the highest bid of $550 for his cake.

Top StarGala 2012 sponsors were:

“Affirmed” level – Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center, The Feldman Family, Toni Lawrence, and TechKnowledge Consulting Corp.

“Seattle Slew” level – Newpark Resources, Inc., Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc., and Valence Operating Co.

“Citation” level
Archi*Technics/3 Inc., and AUTOARCH Architects, Henry T. Brooks Investments, Caldwell Cos., EMC2 , Entergy, Houston Northwest Medical Center, JACOBS, Joiner Partnership, Inc., Bob and Darcy Mingoia, Morganti, and Wells Fargo.

“Win” level – Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union, Follett Higher Education Group, Infrastructure Associates, Jones Lang LaSalle, Linbeck Group LLC, MATTCO Manufacturing, Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, PBK, Schulte Building Systems, LP, and the University of Houston-Downtown.

“War Admiral” level Allegiance Bank Texas, Amegy Bank of Texas, ASA Dally, Automated Logic Houston, Bartlett Cocke General Contractors, CBIC Construction & Development, LLC, CenterPoint Energy, Champions School of Real Estate, Collaborate Architects, DataVox/Cisco, DUROTECH, EMCID, Evolve Infrastructure Solutions, Gensler, HarrisonKornberg Architects, Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce, InvesTex Credit Union, Johnson Controls, Inc., Lynn and Kathy LeBouef, Lone Star Fabrication, Lone Star Steel Inc., Matrix Structural Engineers, Inc., MATTCO Manufacturing, Inc., Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, Morris Architects, Navarro Insurance Group, NWN Corporation, Oceaneering International, Inc., Piper Jaffray, Precision Task Group, The Principle Partnering Group, LLC, Rosecrans Services/Gen-Tech Construction, SHW Group LLP, Ed and Linda Stegall, Tejas Office Products, Inc., Thompson & Horton LLP, University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, and The Woodlands Development Co.

Established as a 501(c)(3) Type I nonprofit corporation, the LSC Foundation’s mission is to raise money to support students and academic programs of the LSCS. Through StarGala, the annual golf tournament, and the generous support of individuals, corporations, businesses and other organizations, the Foundation is able to annually grant numerous scholarships to students attending LSCS colleges and centers. For more information, visit the Foundation online at LoneStarCollegeFoundation.org.

With 75,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball, and LSC-University Park, five centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.

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