June 23, 2022
The Tallahassee Community College Foundation recognized donors for $35,000 in gifts to the College during the June Tallahassee Community College District Board of Trustees meeting. The funds will be used to create new student scholarships.
Dr. Tom and Sandy DeLopez donated $10,000 to establish scholarships for student-athletes for the 2022-23 academic year. In total, five scholarships will be awarded to baseball players and five to women’s basketball players.
“Sports are so formative for young people and they need support to persist in athletics,” said Sandy DeLopez who played women’s basketball at the collegiate level. “The life lessons gained from playing sports, such as the value of working together, mutual trust and dependence on one another, are so important. If you look at women CEOs and leaders, you’ll find that many, many played sports. I would not be where I am today had it not been for my own experience playing basketball, which is why it is so important to me to establish this scholarship for TCC’s women’s basketball players.”
“Sandy and I recently attended the opening of the new baseball fieldhouse. There, I saw fresh, enthusiastic young men playing a game they love while getting an education,” said Tom DeLopez. “It really reminded me of the 1963 football freshman class that I was a part of at FSU. We came to Florida State to get an education and play a little football. Those of us who made it through the first year pretty much all graduated and had very successful careers. Intercollegiate athletics requires discipline, determination and to learn time management. These young athletes are getting those attributes and habits and it will help them throughout their entire lives and it has helped us.”
“Many of our student-athletes are not here on scholarships,” said Heather Mitchell, executive director of the TCC Foundation. “This generous gift from the DeLopezes will create the first privately funded scholarship for student-athletes at TCC.” The DeLopez athletics scholarships will be awarded to selected student-athletes in the Fall.
Brigadier General William (Bill) Webb and his wife, Montse, along with Robert (Bob) and Joanne Webb, donated $25,000 to establish the Cynthia Webb DeShazo Wingfield, RN Nursing Scholarship. Cynthia, daughter of Bill and Montse and niece of Robert and Joanne, passed away this past spring. This is the fifth scholarship established by the Webb family at TCC.
“Cynthia was a nurse all her life and she valued her profession so much,” said Brigadier General Webb. “Our family wanted to do something to remember Cindi, to honor her lifetime of selfless service, and for her legacy to live on with future generations of nurses.”
Cindi attended TCC where she earned a degree in Nursing. She lived her dream of helping others through healthcare and was particularly passionate about helping uninsured patients with breast cancer receive care. The Cynthia Webb DeShazo Wingfield, RN Nursing Scholarship will be available to single mothers pursuing a career in Nursing and will be awarded to students in the Fall.