Student Foundation President seeks to maintain
student-university relationships
“I loved this campus the first time I saw it,” said Celeste Jennings, marketing major and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Student Foundation President.
As a graduate of Madison High School in San Antonio, Jennings wanted to attend a university with a low student-teacher ratio. She noted, "This is not like larger schools where you are just a number."
Another motive for Jenning’s decision to attend A&M-Corpus Christi was the ocean. She is an avid scuba diver and has been to prime dive sites all over the world, including the Galapagos Islands. She literally has swum with the sharks. On one occasion, a playful sea lion stole one of her fins off her foot. Jennings has found the opportunity to dive next to oil rigs in the nearby Gulf of Mexico. Prior to becoming president of the Student Foundation, she was a volunteer at the Texas State Aquarium, where she often found herself swimming among the fish while cleaning tanks.
Of her role as president of the Student Foundation, Jennings said, “Our main goal is to establish the Leadership Endowment. With this endowment, we will be able to make leadership scholarships. These scholarships will not necessarily go to students with the highest grade point averages, but rather students who show leadership ability.”
The Student Foundation, created in 1997, was established to nurture the relationship between students and the University so that it endures beyond graduation.
There are three other programs of the foundation Jennings wants to shepherd through this year. “The ‘Senior Challenge,’ started last year, is an opportunity for seniors to pledge a gift of $200 over a four-year time frame after they graduate,” she said. “We are planning a tuition raffle in which we are selling tickets for $2 each. We will draw a winner during the homecoming dance. The winner will receive 12 hours of paid in-state tuition. Also, adjacent to the new University Center, we hope to start a ’Walk of Recognition’ where persons can purchase and place bricks, engraved with their or other persons’ names.”
When she graduates, Jennings hopes to find a marketing position in the Corpus Christi Bay Area. For the immediate future, she said, “This is going to be a busy year.”
