Ammara Afzal ’24 received a Chancellor’s Achievement Award this year, courtesy of the UC Davis Parents Fund.

Parents Fund Provides Crucial Support to First-Generation Students

January 25, 2021

By Cari DuBois-Wright

One of the many reasons I’m so proud of UC Davis is the opportunity we provide students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Some 42 percent of our undergraduates are first-generation college students, contributing to UC Davis’ high ranking among universities—currently No. 2 among public institutions, according to Washington Monthly—that promote upward social mobility.

And I’m proud that our UC Davis Parents Fund consistently supports first-generation students. One way we do this is by supporting Chancellor’s Achievement Awards – scholarship awards that are granted to outstanding California students from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Typically, recipients are students who are the first in their families to attend college.

One recipient this year is Ammara Afzal ’24, a cell biology major who is shooting for the stars. Now a freshman just embarking on her college career, she hopes one day to become a surgeon.

“I want to save people’s lives in the operating room and bring relief to their families,” Ammara said. “I know it requires a lot of time and hard work, but I am committed.”

For Ammara, whose father works two jobs to provide for her family, the Chancellor’s Achievement Award is helping make her dreams come true.

“After looking at college tuition, I almost thought it would be impossible for me to attend,” she said. “This scholarship has given me hope and motivated me to learn even more.”

There are few gifts more gratifying for parents than helping ensure that all young people have a chance to experience and grow from the excellent education offered at UC Davis.

For that reason, we have selected the Chancellor’s Achievement Awards as one of the projects up for support in our next Crowdfund UC Davis campaign, which takes place during the entire month of February.

You can learn more about Chancellor’s Achievement Awards—and an array of other exciting programs and projects worthy of support!—at crowdfund.ucdavis.edu. Join us on February 1!

For more information about how parent giving makes a difference in students’ lives, contact Cari DuBois-Wright, Associate Director of Development in Parent Giving, at caduboiswright@ucdavis.edu, 510-388-3605. You can visit our Parents Fund website here as well as learn more about our Family Fellows.