GCI awards $40,000 in scholarships to 20 Alaska students
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The GCI Scholarship Program has awarded 20 high school seniors across Alaska a $2,000 scholarship. Since the program began more than 20 years ago, GCI has awarded more than $6 million in scholarships to hundreds of Alaska students attending accredited colleges and vocational/trade schools across the country.
The GCI Scholarship Program is geared towards students who plan to seek a degree or certification with a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) focus, with an intention to return to Alaska to start their careers.
“We were really strategic when we developed our scholarship criteria,” said GCI Chief Marketing Officer Kate Slyker. “We want to reach students that may not qualify for other scholarships so we can encourage and enable more young Alaskans to pursue higher education. I want to congratulate this year’s recipients and wish them all the best in their education journey and future careers!”
This year’s recipients include a diverse group of students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement, leadership skills, and community involvement. One of the recipients is a young woman, born and orphaned in China.
“I was born and orphaned in China until I was adopted by my mother. Being adopted and brought to America gave me a chance at making a better life for myself. All my accomplishments happen because of my hard work and dedication, despite being fated from birth to live a life of poverty and secrecy,” said Chunhui Billings, 2023 GCI scholarship recipient from Utqiagvik. “Alaska has truly become my home and has inspired my own cultural discovery. I feel like a part of a community in Alaska."
Another recipient, Steven Joseph Dilts from Ketchikan, shared his admiration for fellow Alaska trailblazers.
"Like the founders of GCI, Ron Duncan and Bob Walp, I am an Alaska trailblazer,” Dilts said. “I greatly admire their efforts in producing an affordable communication service in my home state. To me, the principles of their actions are ideals worth subscribing to. Those ideals have led to my present and future successes in the workplace, academic environment, and even my personal life.”
GCI is proud to support the education of these outstanding students, who together represent more than 15 communities across the state of Alaska:
- Anchorage
- Denali Park
- Elim
- Fairbanks
- Gakona
- Juneau
- Kenai
- Ketchikan
- Kodiak
- Metlakatla
- Petersburg
- Port Alsworth
- Seward
- Sitka
- Skagway
- Talkeetna
- Unalaska
- Utqiagvik
GCI is one of Alaska’s leaders in corporate philanthropy, donating approximately $2 million each year in cash, products and connectivity to organizations across the state. GCI is committed to giving back to the communities it serves and provides employees with 16 hours of paid leave to volunteer with local organizations each year.
For more information about the GCI Scholarship Program, visit https://alaskacf.org/blog/scholarships/the-gci-scholarship/.
About GCI
Headquartered in Alaska, GCI provides data, mobile, video, voice and managed services to consumer, business, government, and carrier customers throughout Alaska, serving more than 200 communities. The company has invested more than $4 billion in its Alaska network and facilities over the past 40 years and recently launched true standards-based 5G NR service in Anchorage, now the nation’s northernmost 5G service area. Learn more about GCI at www.gci.com. GCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband Corporation (Nasdaq: LBRDA, LBRDK, LBRDP). Learn more about Liberty Broadband at http://www.libertybroadband.com.