New Scholarship Honors Costa Rican Educator; Hopes to Increase International Access

September 29, 2021

A new memorial scholarship fund aims to increase access to Hudson Valley’s online programs by students from around the world.

The Greivin Arrieta Chacon Ph.D. International Scholarship Fund, offered through the Hudson Valley Community College Foundation, will support the Global Classroom High School Program, which encourages high school students outside of the United States to take online college-level courses. Students receive college credit upon successful completion of their courses and get a sense of the rigor of an American college-level course.

President Ramsammy met Greivin Arrieta Chacon in Costa Rica in 2018 and the two longtime educators shared a similar philosophy about delivering opportunities to underserved populations. The two collaborated on several ideas to link students studying in Costa Rica to the opportunities at Hudson Valley through distance learning and a more formal partnership between the college and Isaac Newton University in Costa Rica.

Arrieta Chacon, who founded Isaac Newton University, the University of San Jose, the Carmen Lyra School and several other education and professional development entities in Costa Rica, died last year at the age of 57 after battling cancer.

His son, Greiven Arrieta Lopez, the president of Carmen Lyra school, was visiting the United States and joined Dr. Ramsammy and other college and Foundation officials on Sept. 21 for the official establishment of the scholarship.

“We were honored to welcome Greiven Arrieta Lopez to the campus to celebrate his father’s life and honor it with this new scholarship fund,” said President Ramsammy. “Building connections and relationships with students, administrators and schools around the world is one way we can enrich Hudson Valley Community College and truly give it an international presence.”

Launched in summer 2020, student registrations in Global Classroom High School courses were received from Costa Rica, Armenia, Russia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkmenistan and elsewhere around the world.

For more information about scholarship availability, email scholarships@vaftizo.com.