Raul Vargas

Last night my daughter Emily, her boyfriend Mike and I went to the Mexican American Alumni Association of USC Scholarship dinner. The M triple A was founded by a guy named Raul Vargas. Over the last 34 years he has been responsibile for building a program that has encouraged thousands of students to enter and graduate from USC. One of the highlights of the dinner was the presentation of the Hubbard award nominees. In the era of President John Hubbard, Vargas convinced the University to offer a 2:1 match for money he raised for students. To date that has resulted in about $12 million in resources raised by the MAAA for scholarships which has in turn been matched by USC. Each of the Hubbard nominees had an interesting story. One plans to return to Mexico upon graduation and build up high schools in her country. Another is going to Yale Law School. Just listening to the short bios of each was inspiring.

Vargas is going to retire this year. But I suspect the legacy he has built at USC will not disappear. HIs contributions to the University are important and lasting. But his contributions to the fabric of California are equally important. If you want to find more about the MAAA and all of its good work the website is USC MAAA