McCaffrey Homes has awarded its first McCaffrey-Knowlton Scholarship to Fresno State student Joshua Medeiros. The $5,000 scholarship is for students in Fresno State’s Department of Geography and City and Regional Planning. Medeiros was selected from a pool of qualified candidates.
“I would like to do urban or environmental planning once I graduate, and I’m very grateful for this scholarship,” said Joshua Medeiros. “It helps out tremendously and allows me to be more flexible with my expenses for tuition, housing, and food.”
The McCaffrey-Knowlton scholarship creates opportunities for future city planners by providing $25,000 for scholarships over five years. The scholarship is named for Robert and Karen McCaffrey’s son Brent McCaffrey and son-in-law Ash Knowlton, who are continuing the family’s legacy of giving back to the community.
“It is gratifying to know that lives are positively impacted by the McCaffrey-Knowlton Scholarship,” said Brent McCaffrey, president of McCaffrey Homes. “We created this scholarship to recognize that city and regional planning is a major with a direct effect on the quality of life in our local area. Our mission is to create vibrant, high quality communities that support sustainable growth in the region. We want to support students that will be pursuing careers in this field where they are desperately needed.”
Interim dean of the College of Social Sciences at Fresno State, Michelle DenBeste, commented on the significance of the scholarship, “It helps students who are struggling to pay their expenses get through the program and go on to work in Central Valley private and public governmental organizations,” said DenBeste. “The McCaffrey-Knowlton Scholarship will be available for students for years to come, and will also help publicize our new planning program.”
Fresno State’s Bachelor of Science degree in City and Regional Planning is the only such planning program in the Central Valley. The new degree program became effective in the Fall 2017 semester and received strong community support from regional planners, city officials, homebuilders, and corporations.
