DREAM MAKERS CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

The 2022 Dream Makers reception was a special one as it marked the 20th year of the program and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation’s 50th anniversary. Every year, the Dream Makers reception honors scholarship donors who contribute to the futures of our CONHI students. This year, students and alumni turned out to share how the scholarship fund has changed their lives.

“Who had a dream and it came true?” was the question posed by Fatima Barker (’19 BSN), who spoke during the event. Her dream was to graduate and achieve her nursing license, and the contributions of donors made this possible for her. Barker advised future students to remember their goals and to persevere, knowing that their families, scholarship providers, and loved ones believe in them.

Barker now works as an operating room nurse on the neurology team at Clements University Hospital UT Southwestern Medical Center. At UTA, she was a recipient of the Ruby B. Dean Endowed Scholarship and the April Elizabeth Gillespie Memorial Nursing Scholarship.

Allison Bui, a senior in the BSN program and vice president of the Asian American Student Nursing Association, and Promise Robinson, a junior studying exercise science for Global Health and Human Services and a recipient of the scholarship award from the Advancing Healthcare in North Texas Endowed Scholarship Fund, also gave remarks at the reception.

Other speakers included Erin Carlson, associate clinical professor and director of the graduate public health program in the Department of Kinesiology, former Interim President Teik C. Lim, and CONHI Dean Elizabeth Merwin.

“We know that the key to our students’ success is ensuring that access to higher education is affordable by easing financial burdens. That is why, with donor help, we have given thousands of scholarships to deserving students over the years,” says Dean Merwin. “This event was a chance for students and the College to thank and recognize donors for their support in making students’ dreams come true.”