LIT president pays students' first year of tuition

8/27/2019

attachment image-LIT president pays students' first year of tuition

BEAUMONT On Monday, August 26, Lamar Institute of Technology President Dr. Lonnie L. Howard followed through on a promise he made nearly a month earlier in front of a packed house at Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown, to pay the first year of tuition for a deserving student. 
 

That promise came after the heralded announcement of The Texas State University System’s 25 percent tuition cut. Fast forward — Felipe Juarez, a motivated LIT HVAC student, accepted a giant “tuition on the president”-check with a smile on his face at a fitting venue, the new $6.1 million Eagles’ Nest for Student Success building.
 
Juarez said he was “really excited and surprised to learn of the honor. Nothing this good has ever happened to me before.”
 
The 18-year-old recalled that he and his mother, Angelica, actually cried upon hearing the news. Juarez also said his father is very proud of the accomplishment. Prior to this check presentation, Dr. Howard donated four, $1,000 scholarships in his three years as president.
 
Juarez is a Beaumont native, a first-generation college student and Beaumont United High School graduate who was dual- enrolled in HVAC at LIT.
 
Dr. Howard said, “Felipe is so committed to his education that he is taking a full course load of 14 hours. I am proud to present this check and personally cover (his) first year of tuition.”