Helping Engineer the Future: New Campos Scholarship

Twelve CU Denver students are on their way to fulfilling their dreams of becoming engineers, thanks to the new Campos Scholarship.

The Campos Foundation partnered with the College of Engineering, Design, and Computing to create the Campos Scholarship this year.

The Campos Foundation has a series of initiatives nationwide that aim to elevate under-represented minority and female students through STEM education. The scholarship at CU Denver is a recent and generous effort to help students right here in Denver where Marco Campos’ multi-national energy infrastructure company is based. Students are already reaping the benefits.

“As a first-generation college graduate and someone who has been facing financial struggles and is independent of family financial support, I am beyond honored for the aid provided,” said Dorothea Le who is pursuing a degree in Cybersecurity. “I am so grateful for the opportunities this scholarship offers me as it allows me to dedicate my time and energy to my academics rather than requiring me to pick up a job on top of the challenging coursework I am doing. With my focus on my education, I believe I will be able to understand better the concepts I am learning and will be able to find greater opportunities in my field as a result.”

Campos’s experiences with higher education instilled in him the importance of support for current and future students. Marco participated in a summer bridge program in high school, which familiarized him with CU Boulder before starting his first semester there. The experience stuck with Campos, who strived to implement that same level of care and acknowledgment into his business. 

Marco’s decision to provide this scholarship to CU Denver was an easy one, “It’s right in our backyard,” he said. “We also hosted a handful of interns from the college last summer. We’re very excited, and we want to do more for CU Denver.”

In addition to providing financial aid to complete their education, those selected participate in various activities to support their academic journey. The students also meet monthly, allowing them to ask questions and build community. It helps them understand that others are experiencing the same journey and are not alone.

“As a first-generation student who benefited from support and guidance during my time in university, I am overjoyed to see our first Campos Scholars cohort benefit from this generous scholarship,” said Lucy Daberkow, who is the Campos Scholars events and communications coordinator. “It is great to see students in this cohort form fast friends and create study groups to strengthen their commitment to their engineering studies.”

The inaugural scholars are getting used to college and are determined to succeed.

“My fall semester is going well so far!” said Idris Tinwala, from Denver, CO, “Though I am enrolled in 17 credit hours’ worth of classes, which does put up a tedious workload, I can manage it effectively by maintaining a 98% or higher in all of my classes!” 

Campos Scholarship Criteria

To be eligible for the Campos Scholarship, students must:

• be incoming first-year students
• graduates of a Colorado high school
• first-generation college students
• demonstrate financial need as indicated in their application
•  have and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.2.

The College of Engineering, Design, and Computing is extremely thankful to the generosity of the Campos Foundation for selecting our students to receive these scholarships. Our students are committed to excelling in their engineering studies and being part of this cohort will only improve their opportunities to be successful inside and outside the classroom. We look forward to many more years of partnership with the Campos Foundation.