Founders' Gala Supports Student Scholars

Founders' Gala Supports Student Scholars

More than 525 guests attended the 2015 Founders’ Gala on Nov. 14. USD’s signature black-tie event dazzled with gourmet food, live entertainment and prizes from the Swarovski Sparkle station.

Founders' Gala 2015

What shone most brightly however, was the commitment to ensure that the most promising undergraduate, graduate and law students can experience a USD education. More than $685,000 was raised for the Founders’ Endowed Scholarship Fund, bringing the total raised since the biennial event began in 2009 to more than $2 million. Emmy Award winner Xiomara Galindo hosted the event and USD parents Andrew and Kim Busch of Santa Barbara were the honorary chairs.

USD President James T. Harris highlighted deserving student scholars such as Devyn Bryant, a USD football player and engineering student who participated in a service trip to the Dominican Republic last winter and Jane Henderson, an Ethnic Studies and Spanish major who will take part in a Semester at Sea adventure in 2016.

“Tonight is about our students,” President Harris said. “It’s about their hopes, their dreams, their thirst for knowledge and their passion to be Changemakers.”

The next Founders’ Gala will take place in Fall 2017.

Watch a video of Founders' Gala 2015.

Browse even more photos of the Founders' Gala on the USD Events Flickr page.

— Liz Harman