RIT to welcome 10th Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholars cohort and first Davitt Scholars

Rochester Institute of Technology will welcome new students from two scholarship programs designed to support City of Rochester residents at a special ceremony at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26, at Liberty Hill, located at 2201 Lehigh Station Road, Henrietta.

RIT will welcome the 10th class of Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholars, a program that has provided more than 200 graduates of the Rochester City School District and Rochester charter schools with the opportunity to attend RIT tuition-free since 2010. In addition to scholarship support, students receive academic and social support as they transition into the college experience. Former RIT President Bill Destler and his spouse, Rebecca Johnson, founded the program, recognizing the financial challenges that prevent many City of Rochester students from attending college.

The 21 new scholars will major in programs varying from diagnostic medical sonography to photographic sciences to computing security. The students come from Rochester Prep High School, School of the Arts, Integrated Arts and Technology High School, Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School, Young Women’s College Prep, East High School, Rochester Early College International High School, Rochester Academy Charter School and James Monroe High School.

RIT will also welcome the first two recipients of the Mark and Maureen Davitt Graduate Education Endowed Scholarship. This new endowed scholarship was established with a $500,000 gift to the university by Mark and Maureen Davitt to help graduates from the Rochester City School District pursue advanced degrees.

More than 120 people are expected to attend the ceremony, including scholars’ family members, alumni from the first two cohorts of the Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholars program, community leaders and program supporters. RIT President David Munson will be on hand to welcome the students and deliver remarks.