AFSCME Council 31 students win scholarships
Four more children of AFSCME Council 31 members won college scholarships this spring, joining Anthony Ruhulessin, the son of AFSCME Local 3477 member Jeannie Bellina, who was awarded the 2018 Family Scholarship by AFSCME International.
Three young people—Gabriel Dunbar, Cortney Powell and Patricia Santelices—were awarded the council’s annual $2,000 Larry Marquardt Scholarship, which honors Larry Marquardt, the first executive director of Council 31 and a tireless union organizer who dedicated his life to improving the lives of working people. And Bianca Savant won the Chicago Federation of Labor’s $2,000 William A. Lee Memorial Scholarship.
Gabriel Dunbar is graduating from Oak Park and River Forest High School and was accepted to Indiana University’s Kelley Business School where he will attend this fall. Dunbar’s father, James Dunbar, is a member of AFSCME Local 3436 and works as a senior parole agent for the state of Illinois in Chicago.
Cortney Irene Powell is currently attending Quincy University where she has maintained an excellent GPA as she pursues her goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. Her parents are both AFSCME members. Her father Keith is a member of Local 3567 and works at Western Correctional Center and her mother Marilyn is a member of Local 1787 and works at Quincy Veterans’ Home.
Patricia Santelices will start at the College of Lake County (Grayslake) in August. Her father is Fermin Santos Salvador, a habilitation program coordinator at Kiley Center and a member of AFSCME Local 785.
Bianca Savant is a senior from Whitney Young Magnet High School. She will attend the University of Illinois this fall to pursue a biology degree. She is the daughter of Shubhada Savant, a member of AFSCME Local 505 who works for the City of Chicago’s Department of Transportation.
