Mentee Victoria Arevalo (L) and BBBS mentor Rebecca Campbell onstage during the 24th annual Women in Entertainment Breakfast. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter)
“I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to go to college,” said high school senior Larissa Ramirez as she tearfully accepted a full ride scholarship to Loyola Marymount University at The Hollywood Reporter’s 24th annual Women in Entertainment Breakfast.
Held at Milk Studios in Los Angeles on December 9, 2015, the star-studded event proved emotional and inspiring when Grammy-nominated singer Meghan Trainor presented Ramirez and two other young women, Victoria Arevalo and Laura Espitia, each with an LMU/Women in Entertainment scholarship. The four-year, full ride scholarships were awarded as part of THR’s Women In Entertainment Mentorship Program, a competitive joint venture with the national non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters that pairs inner-city schoolgirls with top-level women in the entertainment business. Arevalo, Espitia and Ramirez have spent the past year being mentored under President of ABC Owned TV Station Group Rebecca Campbell, Partner at SMAC Entertainment Constance Schwartz, and Senior Vice President of Drama Development at A+E Studios Tana Jamieson, respectively.
As her mentee Espitia accepted the award, Schwartz said, “I can’t even express how amazing LMU, this program, this girl is. This morning I gave her a giving key which someone gave to me two years ago that says ‘inspire.’ And you’re supposed to gift it to someone who inspires you. And you inspire me every day to be a better person.”
“LMU is thrilled to be part of this program for the third year in a row. It’s important that our future leaders and innovators are able to attend our University and pursue their dreams without the fear of crushing debt,” said SFTV Dean Stephen Ujlaki. “Thanks to our generous donors, these scholarships will provide these exceptional young women with that life changing opportunity.”
See the awards acceptance video here.
